Guru Ravidas

A brief note on Guru Ravidas-

• Ravidas, also called Raidas, of the 15th or 16th century, was a mystic, poet, saint of North Indian Bhakti movement  and founded the Ravidassia religion.
• He was born in Varanasi as a member of an untouchable leather-working Chamar caste.
• He was born in Magha Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Magh month.
• His birth anniversary is celebrated as per the Hindu lunar calendar and therefore has no fixed date attached to it.
• He was a renowned poet of the nirgun bhakti tradition that valued the worship of a formless God.
• Along with Kabir, he was one of the most noted disciples of Bhagat Ramanand.
• When the fifth Sikh guru Arjan Dev compiled in 1604 the Adi Granth, the key religious scripture of the Sikhs, he incorporated 41 verses of Bhakt Ravidas. 

• He was vocal against the varna (caste) system and in his poetry, questioned caste hegemony, valued labour of all sorts, as well as a life of simplicity and morality. 
• He imagined an egalitarian society called Begumpura, means “land without sorrow” where there would be no discrimination or exploitation.
• He acknowledged Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva in his poetry as manifestations of God, but rejected celibacy, asceticism, penance, austerity, rituals, pilgrimage, idol worship and the authority of texts considered sacred. 
• Ravidas is considered a symbol of caste assertion, Dalit identity, the resilience of Hinduism, and egalitarianism aspect of Sikhism all at the same time.
• He chose the middle path between radical separation and assimilation.
• He formed his distinct identity so his disciples came to be known as Ravidas-panthis.
• In the 20th century, Sikh, Hindu, and even Muslims used to follow his teachings and they came to be known as Ravidassias.
• The Ravidassia religion compiled a new holy book, Amritbani Guru Ravidass Ji which contains exclusive writings and teachings of Sant Ravidas.  
• The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Guru Ravidas.
• Many legends link him as the guru of Meera, another major Bhakti movement poet.
• The songs of Ravidas discuss Nirguna-Saguna themes and ideas that are at the foundation of Nath Yoga philosophy of Hinduism.
• He has frequently mentioned the term ‘Sahaj’, a mystical state where there is a union of the truths of the many and the one.