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·SPIRITUAL HERITAGE
OF RAJASTHAN
DINESH CHANDRA SHUKLA
BOOKS TREASURE, JODHPUR

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O Dinesh Chandra Shukla
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·PREFACE The Land of Rajasthan is known for its chivalry and heroism The glory of medieval Rajasthan is linked with the examples of utmost sacrifice and display of personal valour in the internecine wars a popular theme with the Dingal poets It is worth mentioning a fact that even a western rational mind like Col James Tod was highly fascinated by this theme in so far as he could afford to ignore some of the best aspects of the colourful history and culture of Rajasthan It is still more surprising that even after Col James Tod almost no serious and comprehensive attempt was made by the scholars and historians to highlight the best and the finest aspect of Rajasthan s culture-the spiritual heritage The author of this monograph could humbly claim to have taken an ipitiative in this regard by opening a new field for the researchers The book deals with the Saint poets and folk deities of Rajasthan and their social and cultural contribution They advo cated the idea of essential unity of mankind classiess and casteless society besides criticizing the man made distinctions with regard to VARIOUS faith Their contribution to the environment and ecology of the contemporary society is of singular importance In brief their ideas and philosophy is still valid and relevant today no less then it was in the past स्वाना वविश्या दृजु कुटिन नानापय जुपाम् । नृणामेका गम्यस्त्वममि पयमामणव इव ॥ (Owing to their diversity in taste people prefer different way, straight or crooked but Thou art the only goal for man just as the sca is the goal of all waters] -Dinesh Chandra Shukla ·CONTENTS THE TRADITION OF FOLK GOD 1-8 Gogaji 3 Tejati 4 Pabuji 5 Devji 5 Mallinathji 6 Ram devji 6 Harbhuji 7 Mehaji 7 Isardas 7 THF TRADITION OF SAINTS 9-31 Nirguna cult 10 Dhanpaji 10 Pipaji 10 Saguna cult 11, The tradition of Reformers 12 Jambhoji 12 Jasnathji 13 The tradition of Nirguna Saints 14 Niranjanı Saints 15 Haridas Niranjani 15, Turasıdas 16 Sevadas 16 Laldas 17 Parabrahma Saints 18 Dayaldas 19 Rajjab 21 Sundardas 21 Bakhana 22 Garibdas 23 Ramn Sn bi Saints 23 Dari yavji 23 Ramcharan 24 Hariramdas 25, Ramdas 26 The tradition of Saguna Saints 27 Miraba: 28 Nagarıdas 29 Charandas 30 Mavji 31 SUFISM IN RAJASTHAN 32-37 Khwaja Muinuddin Chishtı 34 Shaikh Hamiduddin 36 Khwaja Husain 36 Khwaja Ziya Nakhshabı 37 SFIRITUAL CULTURE OF SAINTS 38-65 Basic tenets 38 Guru tradition 39 Mysticism 40 Yogic ideas 40 Sabjavastha 41 Elements of Miracle 42 Comtem porary relevance of Spiritual Culture 42 Characteristics of True Saints 43 Unity in diversity 46 Composite Culture of Rajasthan 47 Promotion of Emotional Integration 48 Emphasis on Shaja Sadhana 50 The Moral and Social transformation 52 Suitable interpretation of Social Order $2 The Cultural accomplishments of the Saints of Rajasthan 53, Development of Literature 54 Development of Music 55 Growth of Art 55 Impact on Cultural Organisation 57 A realistic Solution to the Problem of Communalism 59 Vishwa Kalyan 61 The Contribution of Saints to the Conservation of Environment 64 TERAPANTH 66-85 Contribution of Acharya Bhikshu 70 Acharya Bharımal and Acharya Raichand 72 Acharya Jayacharya 74 Acharya Maghragani 77 Acharya Madakganı 78 Acharya Daigani Swami 79 Acharya Lalugadi 80 Acharya Tulsi and his Anuyrata Movement 81 Contribution of Acharya Tulsi 83 Yuvacharya Mabaprajna 84 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 86-88 ·THE TRADITION OF FOLK-GOD The medieval Bhakti movement or devotional transformation was a phenomenon of great importance in the history of religious and spiritual life of India in general and Rajasthan in particular As an organised movement with versatile leadership and challeng ing ideas it reached its zenith beta een the fifteenth and seventeenth centusies The leadership of this movement was undoubtedly Provided by poet saints They used vernacular Janguages or dialects and were committed to the transformation of common people They translated the religious ntuals and practices into spiritual and social values emotional texture and philosophical deduction The movement emphasised religious and cultural integration liberal outlook in human behaviour individualism self realisation and humanism It was opposed to all types of ostestatious rituals ceremonies and authoritarian hebaviour The Sants or Saints derived their ideas from diverse sources including traditions and interpreted the ideals of humap life in their own novel ways The tradition of Saints or Sant Parampara is essentially non sectarian though a number of saints are regarded as founders of sects named after them This tradition excells in tbe realisation of communal amity and harmony and emotional integration It may be pointed out that socially a majority of them belonged to the lower strata of both Hindu and Muslim communities Seldom they received formal education and often they were even illiterate Financially they belonged to the underprivileged class and were often very poor Quite a few were women A majority of them had no access to traditional knowledge and were not well versed in Sanskrit Hence, they used vernaculars especially Hindi in northern India Onginating among common folk they addressed themselves to the task of the emancipation and well being of common folk The greatest contribution of the saints was simplifi ·2 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla cation of the complex social organisation and complicated religious traditions in this respect they sere against any form of orthodoxy and conservatism Their aim was to realise the cternal Bliss and realise their ownself In doing so they devised a methodology wbich was very simple and could be adopted and accepted by all without a multitude of religious exercise The Mirguna Sant Parampara denies the value of religious rites idol worship caste creed and ser discriminations pilgrimages boly baths occult performances and practices and showism in the worship of God The followers of Nirguna Bhaktı were scckers of thc Absolute the ultimate reality The northern saints mostly preached marging or reabsorption of the finite soul into the infinite, ineffable reality which is the ultimate goal of human life This is similar to the monistic philosophy of Vedanta They concened the Supreme Being as formless and devoid of qualities The saints stress the necessity of devotion to and practice of the Divine name Reverence and des otion to the Divine Guru is also cmphasised They placed great importance on the company of Sants ne Satsang Thus Maam Satguru and Satsang may be regarded as the great trinity of Sant Sadhana According to traditional view saints are supposed to be edepts of the Nirguna aspect and the Vaishanavas edepts of the Saguna aspect of Bhakti or desotion The gate of salvation according to saints is open to all creatures The saints ideal of sanctity could be achieved by all and transcends all the social and religious barriers They pay absolute respect to life advocate self restrain humility reverence for all compassion non violence and service to humanity The saint tradition and folk god tradition of Rajasthan is rich in all respects It became popular with the evolution of Bhaktı movement similar to that in the rest of northern India and left to posterity a memorable treasure They left the great culture of love and meditation service and salvation and have shown the path leading to self-realisation and attainment of eternal Bliss TOLL-GODS The advent of Bhakti moiement in the early medieval centuries in Rajasthan is dominated by reverence to popular beroes later designated as folk gods They, essentially represent the ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla 3 this region faculty of hero worship by the common people of this region Quite a few of them belonged to the royality and the feudal structure of the SOCIO political organisation of the region Miracles and possession of supernatural powers fascinated the people associated with them With the passage of time stories got interwoven with the already popular fabric of the belief of super natural character of these beroes Adoration of these heroes through singing of musico poetic compositions and praising of deeds hyperbolically became a routine matter in the life of laity of To a modern mind their contributions to ecological conservation and environmental protection are some of the greatest eternal wealth bequeathed by these folk heroes and dieties Let us imagine for a moment the symbol of Tejaji installed under a Khejari tree Only devil would dare to fell this tree which is under constant protection of this hero god who inhabits the spot in the form of a venomous snake We feel that this is a more effective technique for the preservation of trees and vegetation than Padmasbrı Sunder Lal Bahugunas Chipko Andolan Many of these heroes sacrificed their lives for the protection of the sacred animal cow and thus emphasised supreme kindoess towards animals Another striking example is Ramdevi who is a symbol of communal harmony On one hand the Hindus venerate bim as the incarnation of Lord Krishna and on the other, the Muslims revere him as Ramsa Peer Though originally belonging to the royality and the privileged class these fork gods ascribed to them selves the task of upliftment of masses and often even lad dowa their lives while protecting the rights and prerogatives of common people GOGAJI Gogay the first to be counted among the five folk gods was son of Jevara Chauhan aod Bachbal Jeyara was a feudatory of Dadrewa (in Churu District) It is believed that he was contem porary of the famous Siddha Gorakhnath wbo flourished in the teoth century AD By the beginning of fifteenth circa Gogai was already being worshipped as a folk god and was supposed to be similar to the traditional Hindu gods like Brahma Vishnu and Mahesh According to folk tradītion and historical writings, like Khyata of Dayaldas Gogaji rescued cows from invaders who ·4 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla supported Gogaji s cousins Arjan and Sarjan as part of a conspiracy Gogaji met with a glorious death and his wife Menal performed Sati He thus became immortal for the cause of protection of the cows His icon depicts him riding on a horse with a spear in hand He is also worshipped symbolically as a serpent diety In manuscripts also he is by and large depicted as serpent People worship his idol which is normally placed under a bejari tree It is believed that one can get rid from the poison of snake only by taking refuge 10 Gogajı He is also known as Jahir Peer To commemorate bis deeds Goga Navamı is celebrated with great fervour on the ninth of dark balf Bhadrapad at Gogamedi in SriGanganagar district It is important to point out that on this day both Hindu and Muslim devotees pay their homage to Nagaraj and Goga Peer respectively His worship brings hope and welfare Cultural programs like folk dance and music is organised at the Than of Gogaji especially in the Shekha wati area to please him The farmers of Rajasthan invariably start ploughing the fields by applying Goga Rakhrhi Thus Gogaji occupies foremost place in the minds of people who worship him as God incarnate TEJAJI Tejaji is another hero who laid down his life in the service of the cows He commands veneration of the people of Rajasthan especially Jats Tejaji was born on Magha Shukla Chaturdashı of the year 1074 A D at the house hold of Tabarbji and Rarkunwari He became fatally injured while liberating the cows of Lacbha Gujar: who had sought bis help and valour The cows were being taken away by Mers Later on he died of snake bite at Surasara (Kishangarh) His wife Pemal performed Sats along with his mortal remains A gigantic fair us organised at Parbatsar (Nagaur) to commemorate the day on which bis soul set forth on its heavenly abode pamely Bhadrapad Shukla Dashmi is recounted Bjavalas are recited and hoyalas pertaining to his life are performed in the fair His followers wear silver amulets bearing him as a warrior on horseback with sword drawn while a serpent is shown biting his tongue Tejaji is also revered as God of serpents It is said that to cure snake bite Tejaji s cord should be tied around the right foot of the patient A lot of folk literature has been accredited to the glory of Tejaji His popularity is His story ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla 5 evident from the large number of temples dedicated to him dotting the landscape of Rajasthan Teja Ter is sung invariably throughout Marudhara before the commencement of sowing of crops PABUJI The popular annual fair at hclu (Phalaudı) is dedicated to the memory of a valtant hero, Pabuji who is considered to be an incarnation of Lakshmanji He is represented in the form of a spear wielding horse mounted warrior He was born in the Rathore clan in 1239 AD His father was Dhandhalji His fearless nature became evident in the childhood itself when he granted asylum to the seven Thori brothers from as mighty a king as Ana Bagbela He died fighting for the protection of cows His wife the daughter of Suraj Mal Sodba of Amarkot committed Satı Pabuji s high ideals include honouring ihe womenfolk protection of pastoral wealth and service of the weak and desolate He was also a reformist and opposed untouchability by spirit and action He has been hailed as the god of camels On the outbreak of diseases in camels Pabuji s help is sought and on the eradication of the disease Pabuji s Pharh is sung by Bhopas and Tboris Parade have also been written in his praise Pabuji is supposed to provide security to his followers in exile His followers are believed to have premonitions regarding future events DEVJI Devji was the son of Baghrawat chieftain Bhoja s Gujar wife Sethu He was born in the year 1243 when his father had already perished along with bss twenty three brothers in an aggression with the ruler of Bhinaya In order to protect Devji his mother took him to her parental home in Malwa Later on he avenged his father s death by killing the ruler of Bhibaya Devji is accredited with the performance of many miracles in Menar His devotees are mainly Gujars who celebrate his birthday with Khir and Choorma on Magha Shukla Shashthi They sing Devji ki Pbarh Baghrawat 'Devji ki Baat and Khyat in his praise Ample literature concerping him is available Bravery and chivalry are considered to be synonyms of Devji Devji renounced the material world on Bhadrapad Shukla Saptam; at Dehmalı On this day a large fair assembles at the spot ·6 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan Shukla MALLINATHJI Mallipathji was the eldest son of Janide and Rawal Salakha of Marwar He was born in 1358 AD After his father s death he helped his uncle Kanharde in the administration of Mahewa lo 1374 he became the ruler of Mahewa with the help of the Khan of Jalore dethroping his uncle Tribhuvansı His fame as an able warrior spread far and wide when he thoroughly defeated the army of Nizamuddio the subedar of Firoz Tughlaq in Malwa He helped bis nephew Chunda to win Mandore and Nagaur He also gave Siwana Khed and Osian as Jagirs to his relatives In 1398 AD he became a disciple of Ugamsı Bhati on the advice of his wife Roopande It is believed that he became a Siddha and had visions of events of future He was monotheist and believed in Nirguna Nirakar God He emphasised on continually reciting the name of God He gave importance to Satsang and in 1399 A D organised a congregation of all saints of Rajasthan for Hari Kırtan Barmer is known as Malanı after his name He died at Tilwara (Barmer) on the banks of river , Looni on Chaitra Shukla Dvitiya A large animal fair is held here every year around the temple constructed in his memory RAMDEVJI Ramdevji belonged to the Tanwar family of Rajputs and was born in 1332 AD at the household of Ajmalji and Mainade His valour became evident at an early age when he vanquished cruel Bhairav and put an end to the atrocities he had committed on the inhabitants of Pokaran He had received Pokaran from Mallinathji and later gifted it in dowry to his nephew in law His wife was Netalde daughter of Dalji Sodha of Amarkot He helped in the coming up of village Runecha which is now famous as Ramdevra The largest fair of the state is held at Ramdevra in the month of Bhadrapad Ramdevji took Samadhi at Ramdevra on Bhadrapad Shukla Ekadashi in 1458 A D He is revered on one hapd by Hindus as an incarnation of Lord Krishna and on the other by Muslims as Ramsa Peer He opposed castısm and welcomed the people of lower castes to his cult Even now a majority of his devotees belong to this category His praises are sung by Kamars The priests at Ramdevta are Tanwar Rajputs He opposed idol worship and the concept of Tirtha yatra However his devotees wear amulets depicting him as a horse mounted warrior The ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 7 temples dedicated to him are called Than and usually have bis Pagaliya (footsteps) marks He emphasised the doctric of Aarniavada He accorded the place of highest esteer to Guru and Saisang Peopic venerate him as a benevolent god who fulills the wishes of his devotees His devotees are abuadant in Gujarat also HARBHUJI Harbhuji was the son of king Sankhala of Bhudela (Nagaur) He started living in Phalaudi aſter bis fathers death where inspired by Ramdevji he shunned weapons and was baptised by Guru Balinathji He is considered to be forecaster and 'Vachansiddha godman He used to help his devotecs not only with directions and tcachings but also by taking up arms on his side He had blessed Rao Jodhaji with a Katar at the onsct of his endeavour to liberale Mandorc from the clutches of Mewar On being successful the king gifted village Bengat. (Phalaudi) to Harbhuji Bengatı boasts of owning the major Than of Harbhuji Its priests are Sankhala Rajputs People worship Harbhuji Kt Gaddi on the fulfilment of their aspirations Like Ramdevji, Harbhuji was also an ardent reformist His fame is testified by the fact that after him Phalaudi came to be known as Harbhajmal MEHAJI Mehaj is included in Panch Peer of Rajasthan and is revered widely However po written or oral information worth mentioning here is available about his life personality and teachings There is a need for further research on this aspect of folk culture of Rajasthan ISARDAS In the Western Rajasthan and Northern Gujarat Isardas is accorded a place at par with that of Tulasi and Surdas in UP He was born to Amarbai wife of Sujaji in the family of Robishra Charans in the Bhadres village of Barmer on Chaitra Shukla Navami of 1538 AD His devotional inclination became obvious from early childhood He became an orphan at an early age but the duty of his guardianship was lovingly apd faithfully discharged by his uncle Asajt who made excellent arrangements for his education and social development He was married to Deval Bai at fourteen but she left him for heavenly abode in 1559 AD Later he was invited to the court of Rawaljam of Jamnagar where ·& Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla was highly impressed by his poctic aptitude and Hari Bhakti He was honoured with gifts of villages His remarriage with Rajbas took place bere Then he developed a slight inclination towards wordly pleasures Pandit Pitambar Bhatt revived his original religions turn of mind by a sermon At once he took Diksha vader Bhatti and commenced the writing of devotional poetry Later op be was endowed with spiritual powers and performed numerous mircales He was accorded the epithet Isara Parmesara and hailed as being equivalent to God His major literary works are Haritas and Deviyana While Deviyana is meant for daily prayer routine Hariras is read out to the dead in a manner akın to the delicance of Shrimad Bhagvadgsta After a period of nearly forty years he returned to Bhadres where he attained emancipation in 1618 AD ·THE TRADITION OF SAINTS The Bhakts movement flourished in Rajasthan concurrently with its spread in the rest of northern India It is a well known fact that the establishment of the tradition of Bbakti in northern India is credited to Ramapand Prior to his endeavours, this movement was more or less limited to the southern plateau the pioneers being Shankaracharya, Nimbark, Madhvacharya, Rama Duja and a long lineage of other Dravida saints Ramananda, a Brahman of Prayag was a disciple of Raghavanand the patron of Shree Sampradaya He was a well read person having carried out deep probes into the realm of Dharma traditions, theology cuits and rituals He consequently shuoned all prejudices and developed Abheda Drisht He laid the foundation of Ram Bhakti on firm grounds in northern India His Bhaktı was unique as although he embraced the Nirguna for all academic matters yet simultaneously he offered oblations to Lord Rama for all practical purposes He firmly believed and propounded that the Kalyan (well being) of the society lay in the contemplation of and 'strict adherence to the ideals of the Maryoda Purushottam Being a firm believer of the idea of synthesis bus alumpus included people from diverse religious orders castes and creeds The early torchbearers of the Bhakti in Rajasthan primarily belonged to his school Later on the movement stratified into several lines of development viz reformists Saguna margis and Nirguna margis THE TRADITION OF RAMANAND The tradition of Ramanand is characterised with use of local dialects con discrimination among classes castes sex and the like unorthodoxy in religious thought opposition of customary futile Situals denouncing of untouchability and social evils and strict adherence to purity in lifc The oblates belonging to this cult aim at the acquiring of Aduatla Drishts and keep themselves prt- ** ·10 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla occupied only with the treading of the path of knowledge to obtain Atma Jynana (self realization) and Atma Santosh (self satisfaction) The order of Ramanand later evolved along two major lines the nirguna and the saguna So was it in Rajasthan NIRGUNA CULT Dhannaji and Pipaji are considered to be the leading lights of the State of tbis form of devotion DHANNAJI—Dhannaji a Jat was born in 1415 AD at Dhuvan village of Tonk district He was inclined towards godliness from an early age He went to Kashi and became the disciple of Ramanand The Guru ordered him to practice devotion while staying in the Grhastha Ashram Consequently, be carried on bis paternal occupation of agriculture while continuing the efforts for self realization He was a firm believer and strictly maintained that God is the sole doer of all things and actions His God was omnipresent omniscient, beyond the grasp of senses and indescrib able He could be attained only by simplicity and purity after lighting the Antarjyoti He preached against ostentationus rituals idol worship and pilgrimage He accorded the highest esteem at par with God to Guru and considered him as the guide to attain ment of Param Pad By virtue of Nishkama Karmjoga be was able to reach the apex of Bhakti while discharging his duties as a householder A large number of miracles are ascribed to him for example reaping a good harvest without sowing seeds creating ample milk and chapatis to feed Sadhus even though the initial quantity was much smaller and so on Dbanna stressed that the service to man is the sole aim of the Sants PIPAJI-Pipaji was Khichi Rajput ruler of Gagaraun in Kota district He was born in the year 1425 He was non attached to the worldly affairs since childhood and this tendency kept on increasing even after bus coronation Like Dhanday be too associated himself with Ramanasd and was similarly turned back to contique Bhaktt while performing his duties as a householder But ultimately he could obtain the permission to lead the life of an ascetic along with his youngest queen Sita He started living in a cave at the confluence of Abu and Kali Sindh rivers A temple dedicated to him was built after his death at the same spot Several thaumaturgical events are associated with him Once he jumped into the sea for obtaining the vision of God and ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 11 returned seven days later in dry clothes On another occasion he killed an oil trader and resuscitated him A grand temple has been built at Samadart (Barmer) in the memory of Pipaji where a fair is held on every Chaitra Poornima According to folk lore Pipaji had resorted to tailoring for earning bis daily bread, after Diksha Understandably, he is considered to be the ideal of the tailor society and a large number of his devotees belong to this class Pipaji inspired his disciples to develop ultimate faith in God and make Brakti the purturing force of their lives He urged them to shun evil social practices like untouchability and discrimination He condemned idol worship meaningless rituals and pilgrimage He urged people to pay due respects to Sadguru and to strive for Satsang The only path to God and salvation was Namsmaran and this path could be recognised only through Guru s grace SAGUNA CULT As mantioned earlier, the second line of evolution of the order of Ramananda was the Saguna Bhaktı, where God was visualised with an orpate form and high deals and divine virtues were ascribed to him Ramananda was a devotee of Lord Rama and comprebensively his disciples subscribed to the Vaishnav Sampradaya Ramnanda visited Rajasthad on the invitation of Pipaji The pumber of Saguna saints associated with the State is quite impressive Anantananda, a disciple of Ramapanda bad paid a visit to Sambhar Maldev the king of Marwar was initiated to Saguna Bhakti during the course of this visit His disciple was Krishnadas Payabarı (1502-27 A D), who is famous for establishing the first ever Sarya Pradhan Gaddi of Vaishnavites by acquiring the Gaddi of the Nath cult in Galata (Jaipur) He baptised the king of Amer Prithviraj and bis Queen Balabar Kulbadas was a disciple who emphasised Yogabbyas in parallel with the devotion to Ram Thus he propounded the Tapası extension of Ramanandas Vairagi tradition by assimilating the Yoga Sadhana Another eminent disciple of Krishnadas was Agradas who jospired the king of Amer Man Singh to revive a number of temples As a result a number of temples and Ghats of Vrindavana Guru Govind Singh s birth place Vaikunthapur (Patna) and the shrine of Jagannath Dham were reconstructed Nabhadas the author of Bhaktamala was a disciple of Agradasji On the other hand, Sursuranand the junior most disciple of Ramananda had a long association with Rajasthan, ever since the ·12 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla visit of his Guru His tradiation was carried forth by Kevalananda and Madhavananda Narhandas (supposedly the Guru of Goswami Tulasidas) was a disciple of Madhyananda He establi shed a monastery called Phoova Math at Jhitarda (Marwar) In the lineage of Kevalananda were Anubhavananda Brahmananda Vrijananda Balananda and Govindui respectively, in order Govindy is accorded the credit of establisbing Shri Vigraha of Lord Krishna at Nathdwara Kankrolt hota and Jaipur THE TRADITION OF REFORMISTS The Saints falling under the class of reformers channelised their offorts in two major directions Viz the reformation of the society and the revitalisation of the religion By the middle ages the common man got so much entangled in the complex rituals and pompous ceremonies that it became almost impossible for him to discern a logical and simple path for meditation and knowledge This lead to wide-spread religious chaos and confusion On the other hand the society was infected with evils both acquired and spherent Moreover it was stratified into numerous castes apd sub castes which nursed mutual ill will and practiced untoucba bility Hence it became necessary to redeem both Dharma and "Samaj Jambhoji and Jasnathji are the two earliest saints who undertook this task JAMBHOJI Jambhoji the founder of Bisbao1 Sampradaya took birth on Bhadrapad Krishna Ashtami of 1451 AD at Pipasar (Nagaur) The name of his father was Lohatji Panwar (Rajput) and of his mother Hansa Devi When he was only sevan years old he started going for grazıng cattle The serene atmosphere of the pastoral lans helped to nurture bis meditative introvert nature Even as a child, he spoke very little and people were astonished by the gravity of his thoughts when he eventually did It is believed that he met Sadguru when he was sixteen He took the vow of Brahmacharya and maintained it throughout his life After the death of his parents in 1483 A D, he left home and settled at Sambhara thal (Bikaner) It was bere that bis Bishnoi sect was founded in the year 1485 AD He attained salvation in 1526 AD on Margshirsh Krishna Navami His mortal remains were cremated at nearby Talawa village Now this place is known as Mukam ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 13 A big and a temple dedicated to his memory has been built here annual fair is held here on the new moon day of Falgun Jambhoji s religion was humanitarian in character He formu lated twenty Dine rules for his followers He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and like other contemporaries placed extreme faith in Guru Sarkarma and Satsang He believed in the existence of indestructible life force in the form of soul and the eternity of the cycle of rebirth He preached against idol worship meat eating animal sacrifice and illogical rituals He condemned social evils like castısm and untouchability He greatly emphasised virtues like purity benevolence and self satisfaction He instructed his devotees to refrain from cruelty theft falsehood anger greed and intoxication The fact that Jambhoji had a great foresight is evident from his rules regardiog conservation of nature of not disturbing the ecological balance can be visualised in his principle He asked his devotees to shun violence in all forms not to cut trees and not to kill or otherwise harm animals Moreover he stressed the need of preventing others also from indulging in such acts Thus it can be concluded that Jambhoji was far ahead of his times in his commitment regarding conservation of nature An aim JASNATHJI Jasbathji was endowed with esoteric powers and is often called Mahayogi He was born on Kartika Shukla Ekadashi of 1482 A D at katariasar in Bikaner He was brought up in the Jat family of Hampirji Jani and Rupande There are significant literary evidences regarding his formal education and baptism He undertook Brahmacharya and carried out rigorous penance for a duration of twelve years at Gorakhmalia (Bikaner) He blessed Loonkaran saying that he would rule Bikaner This was proved true later Loha Pangal a sorcerer, who boasted of occult achievements was shown place by Jasnathji These incidents spread his fame far and wide Jasnathji dedicated his life to Sadhana and Jan Salyan He took Samadhi on Ashwin Shukla Saptamı of 1506 A D at the youog age of twenty four at Katariasar People assemble here from far and wide thrice every year, on the seventh day of the light fortnight 10 the mooths of Ashxin Margashirsha and Chaitra to pay homage to Jasnathjs ·14 Spintual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla Jasnathji like Jambhoji believed in fusion and synthesis Consequeatly, he welcomed and adopted all good ideas and high morals notwithstanding their origin He accepted the God in Nirguna Nirakar form and condemned idol worship and other ostentatious practices He believed in the doctrine of harma and in the destructibility of the universe He considered service of Guru, Yoga Sadhana and chanting of His name as the via media of approaching His Kingdom Iske Jambioji, be was an ardent social reformer and asked his followers to refrain from untoucha bility and discrimination on the basis of caste or creed His followers consisted mainly of Jats agriculturists and worker classes and later on the Jasnathi sect was formulated Thirty six principles have been laid down for Jasnathis These are concerned mainly with purity and sanctity in individual and collective life building up a high moral system in the society strict adberence to non violence kindness to birds and animals and regarding the womenfolk with highest esteem and honour Additionally Jasnathji strictly prohibited the consumption of meat and use of intoxicants Thus the principles of Jasnathi cult clearly fall under the category of a Soddeshya Achar Samhita THE TRADITION OF NIRGUNA SAINTS Medieval Bhaktı movement has two distinct traditions VIZ the tradition of the Acharyas and the tradition of the saints Bhaktı is usually identified with the tradition of saints The Acharyas reinterpreted scriptures and supported theism and redefined religious practices best suited for the prevailing situation The tradition represented by saints was primarily mystic and committed to spiritual humanism It may be further divided into two categories the traditional saintly movement and the heterodox system The Sagunopasana of saints like Tulsidas represents the traditional stream of Bhakti movement The heterodox tradition represented by Kabir Nanak and their follosers was against any form of authoritarianism ritualism ceremonialism idol worship and discrimination among human beings on the basis of caste creed and sex etc They preached the principle of Sadhana path of devotion and meditation self realisation devotion for both the God and Guru It is believed that they were greatly influenced by Islam in general and Sufism in particular They, by and large believed in pure monotheism and social egalitarianism le ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 15 The form of Bhakt: which they propagated is kaown as Nirguna (qualityless) The Nirgunopasak rejects the concept of incarnation of God, special nomenclature and form of divinity and advocates loviog remembrance and meditation The Nirgunopasak also rejects social and religious orthodoxy and pleads that personal spintual freedom should not be encumbered by social discrimination or caste hierarchy community and religion They were of the firm opinion that pure Bhakti can be acquired only by Sahaj Samadhi and not by various futurological practices and ostenta tious rituals It is gencrally believed that the Nirguna cancept of Bhakti has been revived by the impact of Sufism which served as a bridge between Hindu and Muslim spirituality The saints of Rajasthan belonging to Nirguna tradition professed by and large, similar ideology and philosophy as was propagated by Kabır and Nanak in the Gangetic basin Perhaps this is precisely the reason why Dadu is known as Kabır of Rajasthan The saints of this tradı tion had a challenging job before them, because of the typical social and economic fabric of this part of the country They worked untiringly for the socio religious transformation, emancipation of the dowo trodden, women and underprivileged common man Their teachings were based on their own experiences and self realisation which had the potentiality of change and reform NIRANJANI SAINTS The Niranjani cult was founded by Haridas Niranjani The practices and ideology of Niranjanis seems to be greatly influenced by the mystic tradition of Nath scct They believe in the openess of God and call Him Niranjan Guru is accorded the highest position of honour next only to Brahma as the sect lays great stress on Yoga Sadhana There are two sub divisions of Niranjadis, viz the Sanjasis and the Grihasthas The concept of castes and religion envisaged as the reason for discrimination among men has been condemened by them They do not accept the ideas of incarnation and idolism HARIDAS NIRANJANI It is said that Haridas was born in 1455 A D at Kapadod 10 Nagaur in & warrior clan, Sankhala His childhood name was Harisingh He resorted to dacoity for earning lovelsbood Thus passed forty four years of his life span before he met a saut who ·16 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla opened his eyes to show him the destructibility of the world and made him realise the futility of his lifestyle He shunned violence at once threw his weapons in the 'Khosalye well and proceeded over to Tıkhi Dungari where he started meditations and penance According to popular belief he is considered to be an incarnation of Gorakhnath He is said to have attained divine knowledge (Bodha) in 1513 A D Then he moved over to Didwana from where he proceeded to travel throughout the state for preaching and teaching the supernatural knowledge which had been bequeat hed to him He returned to Didwana in 1528 AD and stayed there until the day be breathed his last on alguna Shukla Shashtbı of 1543 AD A large assemblage of people takes place between Margashirsha Shukla Panchamı (Vasant Pancham) and Falguna Shukla Shashthi to venerate his Gaddı Hus order consisted of fifty two main disciples Later on the sect became divided into two forks called Jazharı or Naran panth and Haridasot Niranjani Saint Haridas considered Brahma to be the essence of all living beings and Atma to be a manifestation of the Brahma Brahma is thus omoipresent omniscient devoid of virtues and evils and indestructible and is consequently Nell Neti Brahma through His csoteric powers has created the world and Maja which makes every living being dance to her tune He believed that the eternal puppeteer God is the source of all that happens in the world and so human beings should shun the pride of doing or achieving TURASIDAS The place of Mabayogi Turasıdas in Niranjani cult 15 akin to that of Sundardas in Dadu Panth He was an accompitsbed thinker writer philosopher and Sadhak He is considered to bave been born in the later half of the fifteenth circa Similarly his death is supposed to be some time in the later half of the sixteenth century He was a pative of Sherpur Information about his lifetime and deeds is very limited in historical sources SEVADAS He was born on Chaitra Shukla Navami of 1641 AD in the housebold of Rajguru Hansrar of Purohit clan He took Diksha from Guru Dayaldas of Niranjani Cult in 1657 A D when he was only sixteen He had been in the service of Gurt since the ·Spiritual Hentage of Rajasthan--Shukla 17 tender age of seven He took the vow of celibacy and remained with Guru till 1689 A D According to literary evidence he travelled Ultimately widely for the expansion of Niranjanı Sampradaja Sevadasji left for heavenly abode on Jyeshtha Krishna Pratipada 1741 A D through Hath Ioga Samadhı at Didwana, where a Saniadh Sthal commemorates this event His eminent disciple was Amar Purushji who was baptised by him in the year 1718 AD in Bikaner Niranjani cult flourished through the efforts of ninety sıx Siddha disciples of Amar Purushji Though Niranjanı cult believes in Nirguna theology yet it depicts a strong Vaishanvite influence This is evident in the practices of Ramdhuna Shri Krishna Smaran, wearing of Tilak and Kanthi and adoption of Vaikunthi method of cremation Yet idol worship is strictly prohibited in this cult LALDAS Laldas was the son of a poverty stricken Muslim Mev family of Dulotra clan He was born at village Dholidoob of Mewat (Alwar) on Shrawan Krishna Panchami of 1540 A D His fathers name was Chandmal and his mother was Samada From carly childhood he had to make a living by selling firewood 10 Alwar Consequently he had to spend a major part of the day in the solitude of forest, where the tranquillity of the environment aided the growth of devotion in his heart Later he was admitted to the order of ascetics by Faquir Gadan Chishti He then left his native village and raised a but on a hillock named Singh Shila in Bandholt village People became his followers in large numbers This inflamed the envy of his opponents who tried to defame him by false allegations Paided at heart he moved over to Todi Naharoli and Rasgan villages respectively, in the next few years In the end, Laldas settled down at Nagala village Yet his enemics did not leave him for good and in despair they even tried to incite the administration against him Though they were successful in causing a lot of inconvenience, but failed to inflict any serious harm as a large group of followers stood firmly behind him and supported him He remained in Nagala until 1648 AD when at the nipe age of 108 years he received the call from heavens He was cremated at Sherpur A Kabra and Makbara standa at the spot His memorials bave been constructed at A Dholidoob and Nagala also ·18 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla The Philosophy of saint Laldas resembles that of habır He believed in Nirguna Brahma who is omnipotent and whose grace can be evoked by approaching Him through Sadguru and by continually chanting His name He emphasised the virtue of good company Like other saints of his times he too raised his voice for social reforms and against age old irrational caste system and social hierarchy He firmly believed that in the eyes of the Creater there cannot be any discrimination between the objects of His creation, on any basis According to him love to humanity is love to God Imagination of caste as the basis of this divine love is beyond comprehension He criticised all pompous socio religious rituals and observances icon worship pilgrimage bathing in sacred rivers offering of oblations to the so called various manifestation of God etc He declared that the prevailing enemity jealousy batred and violence between various communities 13 irrational and illogical These are not going to assist man in the pursuit of the truth Tirelessly he toiled for communal harmony and to establish identity between Ram and Rahim Perhaps for this high ideal he was respected and honoured by all communities of his times Like other saints he emphasized the dignity of labour and faith in the system of being detached with the material life even while leading the life of a householder He founded a separate order known as Laldası Sampradaya The followers of this order are drawn mostly from among the backward and artisan classes It is interesting to point out that even though they are Mey Muslims the followers of this sect had many common factors with Hindus They chant the name of Ram keep Shikhas avoid marriage between the people of same Gotra and so on A fair is organised annually on Ashwin Sbukla Poornima at Dholidoob PARABRAHMA SAINTS In the tradition of nirgunopasah saiats certain minor differen ces and distinctions place them in various categories Although by aod large their philosophies echo similar doctrinal ordinations but the practice and the intensity of faith do categorise them into different classes In fact Bhaktı itself is an extremely diverse phenomenon and no saint and bis ideas can be strictly compart mentalised into a distinct class For example the expression Ram has been universally accepted by saiots but each of them attaches a different meaning to it according to his individual perception ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 19 Further, as regards to Yoga sadhana and mysticism they appear to have common views but the intensity and dimensions are quite different Even sagunopasak or poet devotees seem to be greatly sofluenced by these elements It is so because, they represent the hopes and aspirations of the masses and logically, for the sake of one they cannot igaore the other The most luminous example of this theory of ideological synthesis is Mirabai, the famous saint poetess of Rajasthan Though a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna her poetry is full of mytical ideas and Yoga She never shied from the use of phrasology of Siddhas and Nath Yogis DAYALDAS Dadudayal, though born in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) has been accorded the epithet of Kabır of Rajasthan He was born on Falgun Shukla Asbtamı of 1544 A D in a Dhunia (Cotton cleaner) family He was adopted and brought up by a Brahman Lodbram Nagar At the tender age of eleven he took Diksha from saint Vraddhanand Then be dedicated his life to meditation and rigorous Sadhana At the age of eighteen, he reached Kardala (Nagaur) where be spent six years jo hard penace He came to Sambhar in 1568 AD and commenced his professional life as cotton cleaner and spiritual life as a luminous godman who preached for the welfare of the humanity Wearied by the perpetual intrigues of his opponents he moved over to Amer alongwith twenty five of his disciples and stayed there until 1589 AD In 1585 A D he paid a visit to Fatehpur Sikri and met th- Mughal Emperor Akbar After leaving Amer Dadu travelled throughout Marwar and Dhoondbar (Jaipur) to distribute among the common masses the knowledge which he had acquired In 1602 he settled at Narayana village of Phulera and here itself he renounced the material world on Jyestha Krishna Ashtami of 1603 A D As directed by the saint himself, bis mortal remains were placed under the billock of Bhairana at Dadu Khol This spot is considered sacred by his followers who are now recognised as a separate cult Dadu Panthi In addition to being a saint and philosopher Dadu was an eminent poet His literary creations strike at the roots of sensation in the heart of every man He is considered to be the conceiver of a novel religio social order Dadu placed faith in the Parabrahma who has an ethernal presence in all worldly beings His God is omniscient and omnipotent and cannot be sought within the bounds ·20 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla of a frame or form Like other contemporary saiots Dadu believed in the power of trinity of Sadguru, Nam smaran and Satsang He stressed the need of social and religious barmony and integration The charished dream of his life was to unite all the divergent faiths in one everlasting bond of love and brotherhood To give effect to his ideal he founded the Brahma sampradaya or Parabrahma Sampraday a It is precisely to fulfil his mission that he exhorted both Hindus and Muslims to shun evils superstitions mutual aversion and all sense of ego etc and surrender completely their lives to God for in His presence all men and women stand as equals God resides in the hearts of people and he can only be realised through meditation and surrender The service to humanity is His service According to Dadu one should be humble compas sionate fearless dynamic and free from egotism One should refrain from adoption of meaningless forms and semblances of faith and sectarianism The path of self realisation thus becomes easier He laid great emphasis on purity of thought character intensions and actions Being himself a householder he believed that the natural life of a householder was best suited for spiritual realisa tion Being humanitarian in set up his cult propounds the ideal of universal brotherhood and respect for all religions At his command his disciples collected and circulated the devotional compositions of different sects It was a novel idea for the realisation of religious and social integration Dadu had 152 main disciples Hundred of them were Vitragi (detached) while the rest established their Gaddis and Paramparas Those who join Dadu Panth eschew idolism shave their heads and wander in all directions preaching moralily and persuance of high ideals The religious movement fortiated by Dadu continued to gather momentum under his followers and disciples Later on the sect became divided into five sub sects VIZ Khalasa Virakta Uttarade Khakı and Naga All Dadu Panthis assemble at Nara yana every year in the month of Falguna between Panchami and Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksh and organise a fair which reaches its zenith on Ashtamı The poetic compositions of the saint have been collected in the form of Dadu Dayal kı Bani on the lines of collection of the poetic compositions of Kabir ·Spiritual lleritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 21 RAJJAB Physically robust and stout Rajab one of the renouned disciples of Dadu was born in Sanganer in 1567 A D in the family of a respected Pathan His father was a petty officer in the army of Amer Right from childhood, Rajjab showed inclia ation towards spirituality and was different from other children of his age group While going for his marriage he happened to meet Dadu, and was awed and impressed by his sermons to Such an extent that he decided to be initiated to Dadu s sect It is believed that he achieved the spiritual knowledge in the robe of bridegroom The Guru ordained him to remain in same attire for the rest ot his life It is important to note that cven during the life of Dadu people were so much influenced by Rajjab that many of them became his disciples The order of Rajjab is known as Rajjab Panth Rayjabawat and is ordinarily included within the fold of Dadu In the last days of his life, Rajjab retired to the forest for intense meditation and ascetic life Closely following his Guru Dadu Rajab visualised the Absolute God like Shunya which has no beginping midway or end The real experience of God is only possible in the state of separation from Him The individual self is another form of the Absolute But due to Maya the individual always forgets its real character The material world is short lived and subject to decay Though it appears to be real but it is due to ignorance In reality only God is true while the world is only an image The socio religious philosophy of Rajab is more or less similar to that of his preceptor He too was opposed to superstitions ostentatious rituals discrimination between man and map prevail ing social evils and laid emphasis on Namsmaran and Sadhana SUNDARDAS Sundardas Chhote was born on Chaitra Shukla Nawami 1596 AD The name of his parents was Parmanand Chokha and Sati, who were Busar Khandelwal Vaishyas Dadu initiated him to his fold while on tour to Dausa at a very tender age of six years He was put under the strict supervision of Jagjivan Das who was Dadu s disciple Other disciples of Dadu such as Pragdas and Saotdas also had great intimacy with Sundardas At the age of eleven years be accompanied Jagjivandas to Kasha Besides learning the hexagonal system of lodian ·22 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla VIZ Sankhya Yoga Vedanta etc he undertook the study of traditional religion social life and spirituality also, After returning to Fatehpur (shekhawati area) be practiced Yogic exercises conti nuously for six years living in a cave He was accompanied by SIX saints Pragadas Santdas Narayandas Bhikamdas Dhanasıdas and Jagjivandas The fame of his ability and esoteric achievements spread like a forest fire, beyond Rajasthan also He undertook extensive religious tours for the propagation of his ideas to as distant states as Panjab Haryana Uttar Pradesh Orissa Bengal and Bihar In the field of literary excellence and erudition as poet he was second to none especially in the fold of Dadu and can only be compared with Goswami Tulasidas the immortal author of Ramcharitmanas During the last phase of his life Chhote Sundardas went to meet Rajab at Sanganer, but by that time Rajab was no more The feelings evoked by the news of death of Rajab were so intense that he fell ill and died there itself on Kartika Shukla Ashtami 1689 A D The central place of the fold of Sundardas in the initial stages was Dausa but now it is in Fatehpur where some of the material objects pertaioing to his life such as cot Topa (head dress) and books have been preserved Sundardas belonged to the Nirguna order of devotees The God was Niranjan for him the experience of which cannot be expressed in any number of words He identified Brahma with Atma It is due to illusion that people discriminate between the two but in fact distinction in any form whatsoever 15 non existent According to Sunderdas only the Absolute truth is eternal The rest are only hallucinations HC believed in the working of destiny or predetermination of the life of a human being on the basis of his fate He also advocated the concept of karmavada and emphasised the need of practice of Nawadha Bhaktı The various forms of Yogic exercises and their spiritual aspects have been bigblighted by Sundardas He vividly described Ashtanga Yoga in his writings Sundar vilas is said to be his unrivalled devotional composition comparable only with Surasagar of Surdas BAKHANA According to an estimate saint Bakhana was born in Nara yana sometime around 1550 AD His followers associate him with Lakhara halal Mirasi and Rajput classes A householder ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-shuhla 23 saiat, Bakhana was a poet and musician His social and religious ideas are most similar to those of Dadu He died in Narayana sometime between 1603 and 1623 AD and his seat was established at Narayana itself GARIBDAS Garbdas was one of the principle disciples of Dadu He was born in 1575 AD at Sambhar He succeeded Dadu after the Gura s demise He was humble in nature modest in behaviour and meek in appearance It became difficult for him to run the organisation with his extraordinarily simple pature Feeling greatly disillusioned with the state of affairs in the Panth he left the seat of pontiff and nominated Kewalram in his place He died in 1636 A D at Narayana RAMSNEHI SAINTS Clos-ly following the example of Dadu Panth the foundation of Ramsnehi Sampradaya was laid It was nurtured by a host of enlightened saints and even in present times it overshadows other faiths prevalent in Rajasthan The feature which segregates it from Dadu's and other Panths is the harmonic blending of ideals of religious traditions of India It adopted Ram nam funeral practices and idealistic moral code of conduct from Hinduism non violence from Jainism and contemporary social and religious reformist ideology from Nirguna saints There is a controversy regarding the identity of founder of Ramsdeht order According to the most popular opinion Saint Ramcharan is regarded as the founder of this cult but according to other sources it may be summaris d that the followers of Ramanand were later secluded into four distinct group each calling itself as Ramsnehi ic lover The branch belonging to Shabpura was founded by Ramcharanji (1719-98 AD) The other three branches and their founders are respectwely Ren (founder Darıyaxy 1676-1758 AD) Sinhatbal (founder-Hariramdasji) and Khedapa (founder- Ramdasji 1726-98 AD) DARIYAVJI (MARWAR) He was born in Jaitatan (Pali) on Bhadrapad Arushna Ashtami of 1676 A D His parents were cotton cleaners Mapsa and Geega At an early age he migrated to Ren in Nagaur after the death of bis father and chanced to meet Swaroopanand who propboged that he would be a Siddha Taquir some day Daryavji noomptand of Ram ·24 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla Swaroopanaod to Kashi and studied Upnishadas Puranas astro logy Holy Qaran besides learning Sanskrit and Persian languages After returning to Ren he got initiated to the tradition of Payabanı by saint Pemdas in the year 1712 AD Later he came to Khejada (Nagaur) and engrossed his faculties in Ram Sadhana He started preaching the gist of bis own realisations and experiences and for that he undertook extensive tours of adjoining regions He died 19 1758 A D at Ren where his disciple Harkharam constructed his Samadhi 10 1818 AD The Samadbus commonly known as Datiyavjı ka Deval Than A fair is organised annually on the full moon day of Chartra at this place An advocate of communal harmony be believed in universal brotherhood and opined that the ultimate truth for self realisation is the same for all men and for all faiths According to his interpretation the word Ram is composed of two elements Ra stands for Ram and Ma stands for Mohammed Therefore there is no difference between the two communities He also believed in the traditional trinity of Namsmaran Satguru aod Satsang When combined together they are bound to yield desired results and lluminate the path to God Like other contemporary saints he also condemmed outward Sadhana and exposed the futility of idol worship pilgrimage irrational rituals etc RAMCHARAN The founder of Ramsnehi Sampradaya in general and Shah pura branch of the order in particular Ramcharan was born in Soda village of Jaipur on Margashirsha Shukla Chaturdasht of the Year 1719 AD Ramkishan (childhood name of Ramcharan) was son of Bija Vaishya Bokhatram and Deuji He was very intelligent and possessed the qualities of head and heart right from the beginning Although appointed mipister by the king of Jaipur he foresook the job in the favour of the pursuit of Sadguru of his dreams He got his Sadguru in Maharaj Kriparamji belonging to the tradition of Krishnadas Payaharı a disciple of Ramanand in Dantada village of Mewar After being initiated to the fold of Ram Mantra Ramkishan became Ramcharan He practiced rigo rous Sadbana continuously for seven years and undertook religious tours He undertook another decade long sadhana around Bhilwara and later went to Shabpura where he left for his heavenly abode on Vaishakha Krishna Panchami of 1798 AD A Ramdwara was ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 25 constructed in Shahpura in his memory He left behind him hundreds of followers out of which 225 were his disciples and twelve Acre main disciples to run the fold for the good of people Phool Dol festival is observed every year in the months of Falguna and Chaitra varying from branch to branch of this sect Its Ramdware are scattered throughout Rajasthan and serve as centres of its propagational activities The ideas and concepts of Ramcharan were mostly similar to those of Dadu and other Nirguna Margi saints His God is qualityless and known as Ram He is omnipresent omniscient and eternal and can be realised through complete surrender, devotion and Sadhna For the realisation of God, Namsmaran guidance of Guru and remaining in the company of saintly people 1c atsang is essential While Guru is the navigator of the boat of life, chanting of His name is the sail of this boat and Satsang is the crew for leading the boat to the lighthouse of eternal Bliss Like a true saint he also adiocated the acquisition of virtues and abstaining from vices for the purpose of transformation of the Socio religious fabric of the country He exposed the futility of observing irrational rites such as worshipping idols undertaking pilgrimage fasting discriminating between man and man Hc cautioned people against social evils and asked them to refrain from using intoxicants committing violence and cating non vegetarian food HARIRAMDAS The founder of Sinhathal branch of Ramsnehi sect namely Saint Hariramdas was son of Bhagchandra Joshi and Rama He flourished in the eighteenth century Right from early childhood he showed an inclination towards spiritual thinking and Yogashastra In the year 1743 A D on Ashadha Krishna Trayodashi be took Diksha from Saimaldas of Dalachagat Every evening he used to walk a distance of about fourteen miles to enjoy the company of his Guru during the night This routine continued for a period of six months Then the Guru ordered him to pursue Sadhana at bis native village But he continued visiting his Guru every tenth day until he achieved self realisation After receiving the treassure of divine knowledge he started distributing it among masses wandering from village to yıllage in the then states of Bikaner and Marwar At the time of call from you ·26 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla heavens on Chaitra Shukla Saptamı 1778 A D, however he was at Sinhatbal Saint Harıramdas had seven principle disciples These were Narayandas Biharıdas Amiram Daidas Lakshmandas Aduram and Ramdas His sect gained popularity mostly in Marwar Jangal Dhoondhad and Hadoti regions The Saint emphasised the need of continual recital of tbe name of God His "Rama was symbolic representation of Nirguna God Only Guru can serve as the mediator between a seeker and God until such time as He deems it fit to bestow the divine grace on him Like other Ramspehi saints he condemned social evil and religious practices like castism religious orthodoxy violence and ill treatment of women and downtrodden underprivileged classes He believed that one should respect all religions and the society should be free from the clutches of useless hierarchies For the ascetics and oblates he suggested the inclusion of Yogic practices in meditation RAMDAS Ramdas was born at Bhikamkore village of Jodhpur on Falguna Shukla Trayodashi in 1728 AD He belonged to the Meghwal community which is considered even today to be socially backward His mother Anbbi died when he was merely a child Then his father Shadulji moved over to Khedapa Exen as a boy Ramdas was deeply interested in religion and devotion He had already undertaken Diksha from twelve different Gurus before he met saint Hariramdas and bis quest for the Sadguru came to an end He was initiated to the Ramsnebi cult on Vaishalb Shukla Ekadasbi in the year 1752 AD He then undertook austerities and tread on the path of Sadhana for self realisation On being successful he delivered sermons 10 many villages of the Italy parcely starts to miss upon the traints the need of chappelising all their endovours to the professing of Ram Bhaktı In 1765 A D, he settled at Khedapa People became his disciples in large numbers When the number of disciples became very large by the year 1778 AD he moved over to Ram Mabola some distance away as suggested by his Guru His opponents were successful in their intrigues and got him expelled from Marwar 10 1790 AD by Maharaja Vijay Singh Then he wandered through Mewar and Dhoondhad aud reached ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 27 Singhthal Later the Maharaja saw reason and realising his mistake personally invited Ramdasji to return to Khedapa He complied after many requests in 1792 A D He undertook tours to Godwar Mewar and Malawa in 1795 AD, for the Kalyan of masses He renounced the material world on Ashadh Krisbna Saptamı of 1798 AD, when he was at Khedapa The successor to the seat of pontiff of Khedapa sub sect of Ramsnehi Panth was his son Dayaldas Like other Ramsnehi saints Ramdas stressed the need for religio social reformation and redemption He visualised Ram as the Janah of all beings and believed in his Nirguna Suaroop He professed and preached the deployment of Yogic practices for the goal of self realisation He believed in social equality and condemned ostentatious rituals He emphasised Ram Jap and considered Guru as the one who leads through the darkness of world THE TRADITION OF SAGUNA SAINTS Saguna (qualified) Bhakti is a form of Vaishnava Bhaktı which has a tradition of worshipping God in the form of idol in a temple with various rituals associated with it The Sagunapasaka believes in the doctrine of incarnations of the Divine manifesta tion of God or Lila and adoration or worship of God by adopting various means such as Navdha Bhakri Samanya Bhaktı Sadhana Bhakti Bhava Bhakti and Prema Bhaktı etc Acharyas such as Ramanuja opine that Prapattı or absolute surrender to God is the ultimate goal of all human beings This can be attained through Bhakti Nitya Lila of God has been conceived so as to present an ideal before the devotee and to allow him to develop a personal relationship with God Ia Rajasthan the Saguna form of Bhaktı Sadhana which became popular was Vaishnava Pushti Bhakt following the tradı tion of Nimbarka and Vallabh According to this one must rely on the grace of God which alone can evoke Bhakti as love in the heart of His devotees Sneh or love have been regarded as the Sthayi Bhava of devotion In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries followers of Nimbarka and Vallabh settled in Rajasthan and propagated the concept of Pushti Marga and thus popularised the Sagunopasana Bhakti 1a. this region ·28 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla MIRABAT Mirabai reigns supreme as the composer of devotional lyrics dedicated to Lord Krishna There is a controversy regarding her date of birth and and life span According to the most commonly accepted view she was born on Vaishakh Shukla Triteeya of 1498 A D as the only daughter of Kasabu Kanwar and Ratan Singh Rathore Her place of birth was village Kudak: Her mother died when Mira was very young Hence she was brought up in the household of her grandfather Doodaji of Merta near Jodbpur In 1516 AD she was married to Kunwar Bhojaraj son of Maharana Sanga of Mewar She was widowed in 1523 AD and thus ended the duty of discharging marital obligation Maharana Saoga and Ratna Singh his younger son also left for their heavenly abode by the year 1530 A D and Vikramajit Singh ascended the throne On the maternal side Mira s uncle Viram Dev was expelled from Merta after his defeat at the hands of Rao Maldev of Jodhpur Seemingly these events should have caused extreme distress to Mira but she viewed them as freedom from worldly bondages The intensity of love directed towards God concened as Krishna totally absorbed her personality and interests and everything else took a backseat and became meaningless She shunded the wordly pleasures and luxary natural to her social status She visualised Krishna as her husband and adopted a way of life which invited criticism from the conservative Rajput society of the times Rana Vikramjit Singh considered her to be a disgrace to the family and created all possible hurdles in the way of her Sadhana harassed her and even conspired against her life But each time some supposedly divine presence and thaumaturge caused failure of his designs and protected Mira from harm Mira left Chittor for Merta where she continued singing the praises of her Lord Following the occupation of Merta by Maldev she proceeded on a pilgrimage to various places For some time she stayed in Vrindavana and then left for Dwarika Mira s soul parted from the material physique and set forth on the eternal OKEDEX,Dr Margashirsha Shukla Panchami of 1546 A D 10 Although it is ufficult to deduce specific philosophy from the Yersebno Mirangentay call thoughtsqoan be gleaned from them According to her meeting with Krishna or realisation is like a ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla DU game of hide and seek It is the natural tendency of the squig scek God and attain the state of fusion with Him Wespekt expressions are full of profound emotion Her verses are ng loaded with philosophical overtones Instead they are, the yttALADA of the heart and seck to establish a spiritual relationship betresni human soul and God Some of her poetry undoubtedly beus abe impact of symbolism and imagery of Nath Siddha dragutosubich was popular at that time Words like Anlad NagdonAvan90 Mudra, Jog! Agam Desh Gagan Mandal and Tukut shqxebseg uscd freely in Miras literature This fact proves Ibat abfoWAS influenced by Joga and Siddha tradition in Ve Sidharsht, However the poetess saint adopted Madhurya Bhasiaf991 US realisation of Krishna Tbrcd8 od 10 NAGARIDAS Krishna Singh or Samant Singh (original stalties of Nagarinas was born at Kisbangarh on Paush Krishna Biasha88588AB He was son of Raja Raj Singh and Kama Rilke itemscoile hood he possessed the qualities of head and fait que preved?fY! prowess or bravery by conquering the supposedly?iticohyderable Foil or Thooni when he was only eighteen year bragte vi 9173 millet died a couple of years later This had a gidarithpact o'n fh7°42 he became more interested in devotion and Retty a#a'k?? achievements The royal family already prblesstalo pasar afarga Vaishnavism In 1725 he was made heirasusteht d'14230721438 this did not deter Samant Singh from the búrtart"87"Yasfpiteleapa After the death of his father meas Shighl 1897488 byt the state of hishangarh was split into twoWattsonensuyashufyond fot the sovereignty of northern pldt2dfmEluate Rob'NI. Where is his brothes Bahadur Singh gorlle Bulberry9lt fuitiugiky hishongarh Detached from the materrara afld'dure Whathaigad conspiracy in the royal family he'lsa.baltu linenofondre AD in favour of his son Sardar Singh' haldent Windows five there permanently. He ethibited süptentie schade&Hd isiside ness. lle praised Bahadur Singh far hentasingruberurllowing him the right path of Bhalni unud boje/91 7981 ol or tiod Like Mira, Nagaridas was not mitresced the frundingtary sect or l'eclla He was compl tely devotio Sirochi anu hrangedhin personality in Ilım ile believedi od trét Breast through iframe Smaran and Lala Afadhuri Ganjolle wasibo bloid mldde mit The folloners of different sects used to includ. Atm withid theft fold For example the Waisbnmtestatstho Suds repand dihim a and music ·30 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla belonging to their faith He can be visualised as an embodiment of an ideal devotee In the span of about four decades he wrote as many as seventy books on various aspects of devotional literature He was a multi linguist and was sell versed in Sanskrit, Persian Rekhta and various dialects of Hindi His writings were related to politics ethics literature etc Like other saints of his times he depicted a deep conviction for humanism and uniformity of utteranees and action He emphasised the acquisition of ethical and moral virtues and shunning of vices Besides being a magician of words he was a great painter He was one of the propounders of Kishangarh style of painting wbich is a class in itself CHARANDAS On the Bhardrapad Shukla Triteeya of 1703 A D a son was born at Debra village in Menat in the Dhusar Vaishya family of Muralidhar and Kunjon He was named Ranjit (childhood name of Charandas) He was orphaned at the tender age of seven and was brought up at Delhi by his maternal grand father Here developed a taste for Bhakn and becaine so deeply involved that he neither received formal education nor married At the age of sixteen he felt the need of an able Guru and began wandering in bis search His quest culminated in Diksha from Munt Sukhdeo three years later He accepted Shrimad Bhagwat as the basic Dharma granth Charandas adopted the method of Yogic Sadhana for the achievement of self realisation He indulged in the same for fourteen years around Delhi After the attainment of divine Jnana be undertook tours of adjoining states He founded the Charandası order in about 1730 AD He had fifty two main disci ples and followers of his cult are found in Rajasthan Delhi Panjab Haryana Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh In 1782 AD Charandas visited Jaipur Later in the year on Margashirsha Krishna Saptamı while he was at Delhi he breathed his last A Samadhi has been built there to commemorate him His followers assemble there from far and wide on Vasant Pancham to pay homage to their revered Guru Charandas emphasised the unity of God recitation of His pame and the greatness of Guru whom he regarded as the torch bearer who illuminates the high path in darkness prevalent in human life Like Mira he too was aware of the Nirguna God but adopted Sagunopasana He accorded Satsang with a place at par with Guru He sought to popularise Yogic exercises Tbe ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 31 doctrine of Karma and Karma Phal was adopted by him from Gita He denounced idol worship pompous ceremonies and useless rites He laid stress on right conduct alongwith Shila Santosh and Daja Although he advocated detachment from the world yet he admitted Grihastha as well as Virakta people to his cult He formulated some prohibitive rules which were to be followed compulsarily by all Charandasis These were concerned mainly with regulation of social behaviour and for the moral upliftment of the society Some of these may be enumerated as abstaining from falsehood and harsh words not committing violence and theft and shunning pride and enemity MAVJI Mavji was born in the Audichya Brabman family of Dalmarusi and hesar Bai on Vasant Panchami of 1715 AD He was a native of Sabala village of Doongarpur He was greatly influenced by the devotional and hardworking attitude of his father He left home at the age of twelve and undertook austerities in a cave on the banks of confluence of Mahi and Soma rivers He received divine enlightenment here itself, on Margshrsha Shukla Edadashi of 1728 AD On the same day be laid the foundation stone of Veneshwar Dham He founded the Noslıhalank Sampradaya He breathed his last in 1744 AD Temples have been built at Sabala, Panjpur Veneshwar and Dhalavala in Doongarpur Senspur in Mewar and Baroda in Banswara in his memory In the temple at Sabala, he is shown as four armed deity mounted on horse The monastery bere is headed by his successors who come from Audichya Brahman families and who observe celibacy The major assemblage of the people belonging to Nishkalank cult takes place at Veneshwar (on the confluence of the rivers Soma Mahi and Jokham) on the Poornima of Margashirsha every year Like Mira Mavji was a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna an 1ncarnation of Lord Vishnu He admned to bis scct people from all castes and ser without any prejudice He preached the doctrine of fusion and synthesis so as to build an egalitarian society His followers are drawn from all different castes such as Brahmans, Rajputs Goldsmiths Tailors Patels Bheels, Meenas Rawats holis hurmis Weavers and Cobblers His teaching have been Compiled in books viz Vani Jnana Bhandara, Akala Ramana Suranand Bhajan Stoira Jnana Ratna Mfala Kalinga Haran Chopra and Naja These have been written in Vagdi dialect of Rajasthan ·SUFISM IN RAJASTHAN Centuries that followed the establishment and growth of Islam witnessed the observations and innovations among it followers which were quite contrary to the ideals and spirit of the preachings of the Prophet To preserve the origical ideology and code of conduct it was considered imperative by its devoted and committed believers to redeem it from further pollution The terms Sufi Walı Allah (Protege of God) Deruish and Faqir are applied to Muslim spiritualists who attempt to achieve a development of their intuitive faculties through ascetic exercises contemplation renunciation and self denial There is no doubt that sufism or Tasawwaf conjures up images of such institutions and customs as saint cults fascination with the occult thaumaturgic and orgiastic practices a mysterious world of visions and miracles erotic poems and lascivious dancing Not withstanding the causes and circumstances for its initial evolution by the twelfth century Tasawwaf had become an inscpa rable aspect of Islamic culture and was accepted by the Muslim world in due course of time According to Sufi saints sufism is as old as Islam itself Muhammad was himself a Sufi and continued to lead an exceed ingly austere pure and ascetic life even while organizing his community Some of his companions used to practise asceticism purification love poverty and self mortification in persuit of the Universal self They were called Ahl al suffa or Ashab 1 suffa After the passing away of the Prophet they continued to prefer righteousness combined with godliness and assured for over more prayer The earliest centres of Islam were Mecca Medida Basra and Kufa But upto the end of tenth century Iran Syria Egypt and Baghdad came under its influence and the Sufi movement also ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 33 blossomed in these regions It may be pointed out that the transformation of different regions into centres of Sufism did not occur in isolation Ismajority followers were initially converts from other religious communities Another feature of Sufisa was that gradually the movement was crystallised into various Silsilas, ie Orders as chain of lineages through which different sufis could be traced It became individualistic in approach and provided the Sufis greater respectability The founders of the Silsilas often linked themselvss with the Prophet through either All or Abu Bakar The Sufls belonging to Silsilas appears to have been great champions of synthesis and assimilation of various elements of other religions "Influences such as Neo Platonism the monastic tradition of Buddhism and Christianity and Vedantist and Yogic philosophy were all Islamızed by members of Silsilas in such a way as to make them virtually unidentifiable Establishment of Khanqahs may be regarded as one of the important innovations especially by Suharawardı Silsila It is believed that Khanqans besides offering board and lodging Perfecting ethical and moral conduct, provided the corporate life a mong its members and transmission of mystical knowiedge acquired by founders of the order to further generations of Sufis Perhaps Islam and Sufism was first introduced in India by Arab traders in the Malabar coast With the conquest of Sind between 711 and 712 AD by Muhammad bin Qasım there started a process of settlement of the families of conquerors and conver sion of the local population The conquest and annexation of the Panjab by Mahmud of Ghazna prompted many Sufis to settle in the region The earlier Sufis to settle in Sind was Shaikh Safiu d- Din Kazirudi Similarly al Hajwiri settied in Lahore at the command of his pir Although he visited Lahore in c 1035 A D but after 1067 AD till his death in 1072 73 AD he lived in Lahore The Saikh was better known as Data Ganj Bakhsh (Distributor of Treasure) and was respected by one and all It was at the tomb of the Shaikh 10 Lahore that the founder of the Chistiya silsila in India Khwaja Muinud Din Chishti undertook ascetic exercises ·34 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla THE CHISHTI SILSILA AND RAJASTHAN AJMER The Chishtt order of Sufis is generally regarded as an Indian one primarily because other branches originating from Chisht a town in Afgbanısatan did not survive for long the deciinc of Sufi centres of Chisht and Firozkuh forced its followers to move elsewhere or live as wandering ders ishes Out of such great Sufi Khwaja Mujou Din Chishti came all the way to Ajmer and settled here for good KHWAJA MUINUD DIN CHSHTI No definite account regarding the carly life of Khwaja is available before he settled in Ajmer in 1206 AD The Khwaja s simple and ascetic life style was an inspiration for all communities irrespective of their faith far as a true sufi he attached no importance to material power and wealth stressing only picty simplicity and devotion to God Numerous stories regarding performance of miracles by the Khwaja on different occassions were got circulated among the masses and it appears that he became a legand soon after his demise He was the embodiment of Sufi virtues spirituality and possessed the supernaturnl power to perform fantastic miracles especially for the good of the people who had complete faith in him According to a popular story Rai Pithaura (Prithiviraja III Chouhan) the ruler of Ajmer resented the presence of the Khwaja in Ajmer but the eminence and his power to perform miracles refrained him from attempting any misadventure The prophesy of the Khwaja regarding Rai Pithaura came true He was defeated by Sultan Muhammad Ghori and made prisoner There is yet another story regarding his discussion with a dervish pertaining the characteristics of a true ascetic The Khwaja after giving reply in his own way asked his disciple Hamidud Din Nagor to explain them in detail Shaikh Hamidud Din described the ascetic path as follows 1 One should not earn money 2 One should not borrow money from anyone 3 One should not reveal to anyone nor seek help from anyone if one has eaten nothing even for seven days ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 35 4 If one gains plenty of food money, grain or clothing one should not keep anything untill the following day 5 One should not curse anyone, if anyone is very hurt one should pray to God to guide one s enemy towards the right path 6 If one performs a virtuous deed, one should consider that the source of the virtue is due either to one s pir s kindness to the intercession of the Prophet Mohammed on one's behalf, or to devine mercy 7 If one perform an evil deed one should consider one s evil self responsible for the action and try to protect oneself from such deeds Fearing God one should be careful to avoid actions which may involve him again in evil 8 Having fulfilled all the above conditions one should regularly fast during the day and spend the night in prayer 9 One should remain quite and speak only when it is imperative to do so The Sharia makes it unlawful both to talk incess antly and keep totally silent One should utter only such words as those which please God (Quoted from SAA Rizvi s A History of Sufizm in India, vol 1 p 1) According to the mystic path of the Khwaja the most superior kind of worship was to assist the helpless Those who aspire to become friend of God should possess three virtues viz munifi cence like an occan kindness like the sunshine and humility like the earth At the ripe age of ninety seven the Khwaja died in Ajmer on 16 March 1236 AD His mortal remains were buried at the place where he spent most of his life time A tomb was built over bis grave by Khwaja Husain Nagaury Fusiber constructions were undertaken by the rulers of Malwa wbich were extended later by Mughal emperors Jahangir and Aurangzeb Akbar visited the Dargah of the Khwaja in 1562 1568 & 1570 AD On the occassion of the birth of crown Prince Salim he reached Ajmer by foot from Agra in February 1570 A D to offer his homage to the Khwaja He also entrusted the administration of the shrine to one Shaikh Muhammad Bukhari who in turn manage the whole affair ·36 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla efficiently Akbar Jahangir and Shah Jaban liberally distributed gifts for the maiotenance of the Dargah from time to time Aurangzeb who was generally averse to music allowed the conti duation of routine musical performances in the memory of the Khwaja NAGAUR SHAIKH HAMIDUD DIN Like Ajmer Nagaur in Rajasthan was another important centre of Sufi movement Nagaur rose to promicace primarilly due to personality of Shaikh Hamidud Dio who was one of the disciples of Khwaja Moinud Din Chishti Shaikh Hamidud Din received carly education under famous teachers like Maulana Halwai and Shaikh Juwaiya He acquired good command over Arabic Persian and Hindawi a dialect of Rajasthan He became disciple of Khwaja at Ajmer and accompanied bim on Khwaja s visit to Delhi He completely withdrew from the material world and adopted ascetic life On belog asked by his Por to request for anything from God, the Shaikh desired nothing According to him once he surrendered himself to the divide will there remains nothing to be desired He was better known as Sultanut Tarıkıa (King of Hermits) among bis followers and admirors He described nine lofty principles as guide to the mystic and ascetic path when ordered to do so by his mentor Khwaja Moinud Din Chishti His path was different from other Chishti Saints as he believed in complete austirity poverty non violence and withdrawal from wordly adulation and notoriety of any kind Treasure or wealth for him was like serpents which are poisonous and harmful by nature According to the Shaikh knowledge is essential for all human beings Closely following the life of the Prophet is the most superior kind of Faith Man should abandon all thoughts of wordly gain in the pursuit of the unseen (God) The Shaikh died on 1 November 1274, D and was buried at Nagaur He was succeeded by his grandson Shaikh Farıdud Din Mahmud who got royal patronage in the Court of Muhammad bin Tughluq KHWAJA HUSAIN Nagaur was re established as a strong centre of Sufism by Khwaja Husain Nagauri wbo lived like a cultivator He was ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 37 also patronised by Sultan Ghiya Sud Din Khalji He use to impart spiritual education and write commentary on the Holy Quaran He compiled treatises on Sufism also KHWAJA ZIYA NAKHSHABI Another famous sufi saint of equal merit and fame was Khwaja Ziya Nakhshabı, a disciple of Shaikh Farid, who settled at Nagaur sometime during the Mongol invasion He was a scholar par excellence and a verstile writer and composer of Sufi poetry of bigh order His Silkus Suluk (striog of Sufism) describes the basic principles of the Sufi movement in as many as 151 chapters He considered the sufis as a people who were excellent both inwordly and outwordly it is interesting to mention here that Nakhshabı 18 mainly remembered for his work Tuti Nama (Stories from a Parrot) a Persian version of the Sanskrit work entitled Suka Saptatt by Chintamani Bhatt The tales were mostly derived from famous Classics Panchatantra and Hitopadesh Although Nakhshabı breathed his last in 1350-51 A D yet his poetry has helped to perpetuate his memory as a great saint and writer ·SPIRITUAL CULTURE OF SAINTS It is interesting to note that there is a remarkable similarity between the common practices beliefs and observances related to the saint siddha devotee tradition Almost all the saints by and large underline the importance of the welfare of the people (Parmartha) truth (Satya) and accumulation of religious merit (Dharma Sanchaya) as the primary aim of life The Bhaktı culture throws ample light on the contemporary ethical and religio spiritual life The creative genius of the saints lies in their multi-dimensional and synthetic views The old Indian tradition of freedom of expression finds symbolic expression in this age The saints emphasized on personal experiences and Sadhana and believed that one should become one s own lamp for the acquisition of knowledge They time and again preach that one should maintain harmony between ones theoretical and practical lives BASIC TENETS There are certain fundamental observances commonly practi sed by the Bhaktas and saints such as repetition of name (nam jap) remembering the name (Namsmarana) listening and reciting the hla of God importance of guru and certain element of mysti cism We bave traces of a rich tradition of nam jap (repetion of the name) in India prior to its adoption by the saint poets Traditionally it is believed that God realisation is possible through knowledge action bhaktı and yoga The saints have precisely given the appelation Surat to the act of repeating the habır has highlighted the significance of nam jap by saying that one has to go far away hence proceed immediately as there is no resting place here Do friend no money no rest one has to travel alone and has to swim this inhospitable sea by chanting the name ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 39 name of Hari The importance of nam jap in the saint tradition can hardly be overemphasized In the higher stage of Sadhana the difference between the Bhakti and the Bhagwan disappears completely Infact the nam is both the end as well as the means Dadu like Kabır is also under the intoxication of nam and he is overwhelmed after having consumed the nector underlying the nam jap According to him the body is the cage and soul within the parrot and one becomes wise by reciting the name of the God Another saint poet Haridas Niranjani has also stressed the significance of nam jap GURU TRADITION Guru tradition is very old in India It had always rea_wed itself with the emergence of religio pbilsophical sects and sub sects The evolution of Vaishnavism Shaivism Shaktism and Tantricism also did not prove detrimental in any way to the growth of the guru tradition The incessant stream of the tradition of devotion to guru (guru bhakti) from the Vedic age kept on flowing through out in the following period with increased vigour and was further enrihed under the medieval bbakti movement The importance of the preceptor in our period of study is so much that no spiritual progress was conceivable with out the able guidance of the guru Infact Gorakbnath s ideas about guru by and large represent the viewpoint of other Saints like Mira Dadu etc According to Gorakbnath the blind well in the sky is filled with sector and a person having a guru can enjoy the drink of the well but a man without a guru will remain tbarsty Certain saints like Charandas and his female desciple Sabjobai bare given preference to guru (preceptor) over the God The ultimate aim of the saints was fusion with the absolute reality (God) through realization of the self The whole matter 15 a subject of self realization which essentially needs the physical prescace and active guidance of the preceptor Even in normal process of acquiring knowledge we require the assistance of a guru but in spiritual matters the importance of the preceptor could hardly be overcmphasized The saints on the one hand stress the need of a guru in persuit of higher knowledge or self ·40 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla realization and on the other hand they win the followers against pseudo-gurus MYSTICISM The entire saint bhakta tradition is wrapped up in some kind of mysticism The saints in general believed in the impermanence of material world and human beings But they also give sufficient importanee to buman beings in so far as they are regarded as manifestations of God Himself They have been conceived as Separated beings living in this world in the state of 'Viyoga that 1$ separation from the Higher Being (God) They therefore per ceive human beings as mini representations of the Almighty They believed that by serving the humanity they were serving the God Himself Thus the service of humanity will bring the devotee toto direct contact with the God which automatically would result in the fusion of the soul with the God This precisely is the ultimate aim of human life The saints have tried to explain the fusion with the help of imageries similies and metaphors for example Dadu termed it as drinking of rector of Ramras Hardas Niran jani and Meera have also explained it in their own way Charandas calls it as Surat This state according to the saints is the state where there is no darkness of ignorance no duality no fear 10 illusion etc and the human heart enjoys the freedom from bondage of wordly acquisitions This state of self realization according to saints is comparable to the merger of lower soul into the higher soul the state of highest bliss YOGIC IDEAS Kabır may be regarded as a link between the Nath tradition and the saint tradition The true representative of the saint tradı tion was undoubtedly Dadu who introduced certain new aspects in the sphere of Yogic practices in accordance with the need of the time Dadu was well versed in the yogic tradition besides being a devotee who bad faith in self realization His Sadhna may be regarded as laya yoga which is distinctly different than jnana Joga of Kabir According to Dadu if a devotee takes refuge in the God after having completely discarded all kinds of ills vices prejudices and inhibitions he fully merges into the ultimate reality This is fusion of the jodividual self with the higher self This is ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla 41 precisely the meaning of laya joga Dadu is said to have written several books on different aspects of yogic practices using his nick Dame Kummari Pav He has given an exhaustive list of the famous Sadhakas from Narada to Gorakhnath in one of the chapters of his Banis Dadu has laid emphasis of meditation (Dhyana) and regulation of breath (Pranayama) for attaining highest bliss (Surat:) He certainly seems to have very good koowledge of the joga sasira as would appear from the frequent use of words pertaining to yoga and yogic practices He further maintaios that the renunciation should be complete from within for it is through this inner Sadhana alone that one can realize ope s higher aim Saint Ram Charan wrote Sabda Prakash which explains various aspects of yoga sadhana methods Following the precept of Rama Charan the followers of the Ramspehi sect stress the need to practice the Sabda yoga sadhana (muttering--the pame of the God) for God realızation Charandas the founder of the Charandası sect is said to have learnt the yoga sastra from Shukdev He practised yoga for fourteen years and afterwards wrote several useful treatises on various aspects of yoga Thus Charandas brings about a remarkable synthesis of yoga, bhaktı and brahma Jnana which is evident from his book Bhaktisagar This book is considered as an authentic text on various aspects of yoga and yogic practices Mira is another subtle mystic saint poetess who subscribed the idea that one can realize the God through immortal love She like her contemporary fellow saints was acquainted with yogic observances Other saints like Haridas Niranjant Jambhoji Jasnathji Rajab Sundardas Chhote Darıyaoji etc are also influenced by the yogic philosopby and observances of the contem porary times SAHAJAVASTHA (NATURAL STATE) According to saints the ultimate aim of saintly life is to reach Sahajavastha through discipline, devotion and dhyana The indivi dual self and the Brahman are inseparable The fusion of self with the Brahman is the natural state of Jiva (self) Knowledge meditation chantiog of the name of God yoga Samadhi etc are not possible without being in one s natural state (Sahajavastha) One has to rid himself off from fix and duality in order to reach ·42 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla Sahajavastha Almost all the saints have emphasized the need to reach the natural state for God realization The man will automatically become free from superstitions external rites rituals and other infatuations of the material world when be reaches the natural state To sum up the main features of Sahajavastha would include virtues such as Abheda Anabhaya Nirvairia, Samana, Satsanga, Sejabhai and Eklajata ELEMENT OF MIRACLE The association of miracle with the prophets and founders of new faiths and such other godmen 13 more or less an essential feature of the system Broadly speaking a number of miracles are woven around the saints or prophets in such a manner that their person assumes a distinct character The miracles serve the purpose in two ways namely by giving a distinct identity to the saint or a prophet and arousing the element of faith among the believers It is interesting to pote that during the early medieval age the emergence of Tantricism and its subsequent popularity among the various contemporary sects paved the way for the recognition of the miracles The siddhas and Nath Jogis popularised the use of miracles to influence the common believers The impact of miracle making was so overwhelming during the middle ages that people seldom took saints seriously unless they gave evidence of their capacity to miracle making the saints of Rajasthan like Papa Dadu Haridas Niranjanı Laldas Mira etc were no exception to the general practice They are also said to have demonstrated numerous miracles while living to impress upon their followers It is strange to mention that these saints personally decried the use of miracles being illogical and irrational They were against any kind of superstitions and blind faith However their followers do ascribe to them several miracles CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE OF THE SPIRITUAL CULTURE The middle ages in India represent the transitional phase of our history and culture It posed new challenges to our social political economic religious and cultural life The ancient traditions especially social order and religious practices were questioned by the competent authorities being out dated The custodians of society and religion and also the authors having reformist inclination had already started the process of chaoge and ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 43 transformation in accordance with the need of the time The classical tradition was declining and Kali tradition was gradually replacing it The sudden advent of Islamic culture further complicated the sitution It posed several new questions and created new problems la the begiong the great Indian tradition of assimilation and synthesis became somewhat defensive But with the passage of time the glory was revived The credit for this revival of synthesis and assimilation can rightly be given to the saints and saint poets of the Bhaktı movement The Sufis also played a significant role in this direction They stood by the saints in working for the social transformation communal harmony and religious synthesis The sufis and saints were great believers of humanism They displayed egual concern for the God and maa To us it appears that the Bhaktı movement of India represents the epoch of spiritual democracy The saints and devotees pleaded for the equality of man irrespective of caste creed etc They emphasized the freedom of thought and belief leading to freedom from bondage of life Their concern for human being and commitment for their emancipation was decp rooted It may be mentioned here that they sprouted from the lower stratum of society they lived like ordinary people and worked and served them with all their strength This precisely will account for their popularity among the masses An important contnbution of these saints was certainly the use of commonly used dilects of the people for their discourses and writings It naturally brought them in close affinity of the common people The impact of their teachings on the masses was bound to be stable as it was based on their personal experiences and practises The Saints presented a very high profile of their personality as a consequence of which they were dcified during their own lifetime The folk deities of Rajasthan are the best illustrations of this trend CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE SAINTS The saints and the great meo (mahapurusha) are supposed to possess and acquire certain distinctive qualities which give them respectability and following among the masses The Vaishnav sect appear to have taken a lead in maintaining the saratly tradition since the begining in so far as it frequently enumerates the basic features of a saint There are three yardsticks commonly used for ·44 Spiritual Hentage of Rajasthan—Shukla the measurement of sainty qualities They are spiritual attainment religious observance and following prescribed moral code of conduct It may be pointed out here that so far as spiritual attaiament is concerned it was highly a prsonal matter confined to the saint bimself The religious practices of the saints were objects of of immitation for the people As regards the moral code it definately helped in building the character of the people These saints by and large kept themselves disengaged from the subtlities of spiritual life They never bothered their heads by asking unto themselves what and how a man should do for self realization They merely taught people how to live a simple honest and unadultered life Truth speaking righteous conduct befriending the people by showing love and affection towards all living crea tures were some other precepts of these saints It is interesting to note that the saints ware living by and large a normal wordly life performing their household duties as members of family and carrying on their normal occupation but certainly with marked distinction To live a highly disciplined life by observing penance and controlling one s senses while living in a family is far more difficult a task then renouncing the world and observing the penance in sylvan solitudes The saints of medieval Rajasthan in particular had distinctly maintained the high tradition of saintly life and deals They in brief were endowed with the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong good and bad virtues and vices Sreyas and Preyas etc The ideals of the saints may be summoned up in their concept of niskamata abheda drishi Jala mein Kamalwat Vyavaliar and humanism The main aim of the saints was to create a world free from vices like greed avarice intolerance violence selfishocss and indulgence They wanted to develop a society absolutely based on truth non violence love piety and equality among the human beings Their teachings had bearings on social welfare communal harmony and immotional integration These saints have precisely done commendable job in promoting the above mentioned social and human values It is important to emphasize here that their teachings were relevant in their own periods and are much more relevant to our present day world when we are facing great crisis It may be pointed out here that given serious thought the teachings of the great şaints are if adhered to ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 45 capable of bringing about social harmony and sectarian tolerance in our society The methodology adopted by the saints for social reforms and communal barmony bare rich fruits as would appear from the large following they commanded even during their life time Thus the practicability of their ideals could hardly be over emphasized The saints indeed were the embodiment of synthesis The syptbesis they tried to bring forth was between the nishkaniata and wordly behaviour renunciation and family life and ideal and practice One of several other important contributions of these sarats was the formulation of standards of human behaviour according to the needs of the time They time and again emphasized the equality of men and identity of man with God In order to realize their goal they opposed all types of social conduct and sectarian philosophies that were in one or the other way against tbeir basic ideal The saints were against any kind of prejudice in relation to religious beliefs They frequently taught their disciples to be free from prejudices and dogmatic approach According to them everyone should freely think about and choose his faith that appeals him and not merely follo ving it in a blind manner without having conviction In this respect the saints were following the ideal of Buddha s teachings The saints were strongly opposed to the uscless external rites rituals and superstitions They have compared the irrational belief with the dust spread over the mirror, that is Reality The real identity of the mirror remains hidden so long as the dust over it is not removed The removal of the dust is not possible unless one discards one s prejudices and predetermined ideas The realization of truth and the merger of individual soul with the higher soul will remain a distant dream according to them till one decides to approach the Reality with a free mind after having removed the dust from over the mirror Another important contribution of these saints was perhaps in the sphere of spirituality They tried to popularise the spiritual life among the cross section of society They thus freed the spiri tuality from the clutches of elites of society and made it possible for the comman man to practise it without any bindrance This was one of the several factors responsible for their popularity ·46 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla among the masses They had opened the doors of spirituality to one and all without any restrictions of caste creed and ser The simplified procedure for establishing communion with God had further added attraction to their fold They never forced their followers to strictly observe the rules of pesance meditation etc They instead recommend the nam jap to their followers for self realization The saints were social reformers par-excellence They tried to create an awareness among the masses against the ills of contemporary society by openly condemning and critisizing the irrational social customs and religious observances They were undoubtedly great catalysts The society was on the verge of breaking for want of understanding and tolerance They brought about much needed unity and intergration and gave new lease of life to the declining society UNITY IN DIVERSITY The salient underlying features of India s culture has been unity in diversity It has given enough strength to sustain our culture through political racial and cultural changes The medieval age in Indian history is marked by successful political and cultural inroads of the followers of Islam The establishment of Islamic state in india changed the very fabric of social and religious orga nisation The alien culture of Islam posed new problems and challenges The basic elements of it were not in consonance with the traditional Indian culture The initial reaction of the people was that of defensive resistence But ultimately the process of assimilation and adoptation started and grand synthesis was achieved The saints devotional poets sufis and folk deities (such as Ramdevji) may be regarded as harbingers of this message of social barmony and religious tolerance They could under stand the need of the time and accordingly respond to it by showing the seeds of mutual trust understanding and cordatlity Another important feature of these saints was perhaps their deliberate indifference towards the weaker points of other pre vailing sects They were certainly more interested in approa cbing the reality squirely and did not bother to engage their atten tion in finding faults with other systems They were of firm conviction that all paths lead to the ultimate The means may very but the end is the same The saints basically believed to the ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 47 essential unity of all religions That is why they underlined the importance of the concept of abhed drishti (making no distinction between human beings) Their philosophical ideals greatly helped in the realization of their cherished objective of social and religious synthesis At the end it may be pointed out here that the saints of Rajas than in particular and saints of other regions of India in general contributed to the attainment of the high ideal of cultural synthesis This precisely has been one of the fundamental features of Indian culture and a contributory factor for the sustenance of our glonous civilization COMPOSIT CULTURE OF RAJASTHAN Rajasthan may be regarded as suitable area for the develop ment of composit culture based on synthesis The geographical position of Rajasthan immensely contributed for the growth of a syncretic culture with dominant regional features The social and religious fabrick of this area remained almost unaffected by the social and religious pattern of the Gangetic basın in several ways The rigidity and conservative outlook of the people of Gangetic region is not conspicuous in Rajasthan in general The religious practices associated with the main sects of Hinduism could not engage the attention of the people of Rajasthan as it did in other parts of India The local folk deities saints and sufis influenced the common people of Rajasthan much more than the main deities of Hinduism Rajasthan in general and western Rajasthan in particular is known for promoting the evolution and popularization of the mixed or composite culture Here the sufi saints and Hindu saints joined cach other in the act of social and cultural assimilation The teachings of these saints and sufis underlined the importance of liberal and catholic outlook towards religious views and social systems of each other They time and again emphasized the futility of religious fanaticism narrow vision intolerance and conservatism In their discourses they exborted the people to replace their animus with love conflict with compromise violence with peace revenge with forgiveness and intolerance with fortitude The assimilative and synthetic attitude of the people of Rajasthan is evident from their reverence to the folk deities like Ramdevji and saints like Laldas The Hindus in general belonging ·48 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla to all sections of society worship Ramdevji as an incarnation of God Krishna and the Muslims venerate bim as a pir Similarly Laldas though a Muslim by birth is adorned by Hindus PROMOTION OF IMMOTIONAL INTEGRATION The medieval Rajasthan like northern India witnessed the social political and religious crisis due to irrational and conservative outlook of the decision making persons in these spheres The caste system feudalism and political subjugation of Indian people by the followers of Islam further complicated the situation The advent of Islam posed new challenges to our social and religious fabric Initially the custodians of Hindu society reacted to the new situation in such a manner that the prevailing rules and norms of social system were redefined so as to make them more rigid and complex The position of women and lower classes became miserable as a consequence of the changed attitude The ignorance and poverty worsened the possibility of emancipation The social hierarchy with absured notions associated with various classes caused new tensions and conflicts then ever before The priests were busy in acquiring supernatural powers the agents of political power were preoccupied with strange and self conceived notions of chivalry the business class was engaged in minting money and the so called upper classes were more interested in the imposition of their false superiority The victim of this painful man made situation was the helpless common man He was an objects of derision for all the bigher classes They were made to understand that their miserable condition is nothing but the consequence of their actions and deeds of past life they should therefore accept it as their destiny The appearance of the saints on the scene may well be regarded as a positive sign of change and improvement in the situation The common man took a sigh of relief Their hopes and aspirations were awakened Who could better understand the agony of the common map and who could raise their voice for improvement then the saints who themselves belonged to the same fraternity The saints in order to redeem the helpless masses from their miserable socio religious status took recourse to following methods Firstly they advocated the philosophy of abheda (non distinction) in social and religious spheres Secondly they in close persuation ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Slukla 49 of the abheda dristi emphasized the need to have liberal outlook and tolerant altitude towards the view points of other The thrust of their teachings on religious tolerance communal harmony and cross cultural interaction created an atmosphere of under standing and adjustment As the observance of traditional religious customs and sites based on the Sastras, was neither possible nor feasible for the common man the saints therefore suggested the people to replace them with the simplest possible religious observances That is why they steessed the importance of chanting the name instead of wasting one s time and energy on pilgrimage visiting temples keeping fast holy dips in the Ganges and other rivers It may be pointed out here that the saints did not denounce the traditional religious belf out of any ill will or reaction to it but they presented a more rational and logical alternative suitable to the prevailing condition of the people Their philosophy and method had mass appeal An important attraction of the fold was perphaps the common man s language used by the saints for their discourses They lived like ordinary poor mortals they wore common dress ate common food and earned their livelihood Bike them Also most of them led domestic life and experienced its pangs and pains like ordinary people They lived strictiy in accordance with their teachings and thus presented an ideal worth immitating for their followers Their living style itself conveyed their message For them there was practically no difference between 'Ram and Rabım as the followers of both had the same end The basic difference between the two was of ways and means and not of the end Similarly they forcefully denounced the futility of caste and class feeling of high and low status, untouchability 1oferiority of women folk and downtrodden In their opinion all were created by God who does not believe jo stratification and differentiation Obviously the teachings of these saints considerably reduced Socio religious conüict and tensions and brought about peace and harmony in society Thus their contribution in creating a congenial atmosphere in Rajasthan for the growth of 1 composite culture could hardly be overemphasized. This palucally paved the* way for immotional integration ·50 Spiritual lleritage of Rajasthan-Shukla The contemporary socio religious condition in the medieval Rajasthan broadly speaking was complex The ideals regarding the social conduct and religious norms were not in consonance with their actual observance and erecution The saints tried to bring about a change ib the prevailing socio-religious situation through the following steps EMPHASIS ON SAHAJA SADIIAMA The saints at the initial stage discarded the age old practices and observances and simplified the entire procedure so as to malc it casy for one and all to work for spiritual progress The futility of icon worship pilgrimage Sodasopchar etc was frequently emphasized by these saints because in course of time these means were made to assume the status of the end itself by the people and consequently the real aim was throng into the oblivion To us it seems that people were attracted toward inserted Sadhana (Antarmuklu Sadhana such as Mamasmarana) for obvious The common could not aſſord the ctpenses involved in the Bahir Sadhana (worshipping the deity with costly rituals pilgrimage ete) Further a large section of society belong ing to the lower stratum were forbidden from paying obeisance to the icons and images in the temples The saints also criticized the hypocritic observances such as use of cxclusive dress appli cation of sandal wood paste on forehead violence involved in the rituals and age old irrational restrictions prohibitions and totems and taboos The God according to them was omnipresent where was the need to search him elsewhere when He is very much present in one s own heart It is therefore not very difficult according to the saints to locate Him with complete dedication and devotion Thus wbat was required of a devotee was not to get engaged in external futile and logical observances but to recite bis name with utmost sincerety and devotion after having taken complete refuge in Him reasons man EMPHASIS ON ETHICAL AND MORAL VALUES The emergence of Tantricism and its gradual impact on almost all religious sects of the contemporary medieval India created a situation marked by general moral and ethical decadence The traditional values morals and ethics were all challcoged by the Trantric practices The adient of Islam in India further added to the already complicated situation The people in general were ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla 51 confronted with a peculiar situation where old system was trans formed to a great extent The religious superstitions and rites and observances externally associated with the respective religions and sects were being overemphasized by the orthodox priests The masses were not in a position to choose the path to the followed by them Tha Bhaktı movement in general and saints associated with the movement in Rajasthan in particular created a situation where by people could feel a real good religious alternative in terms of the teachings of the saints in the prevailing circumstances The saints underlined the importance of self realization no doubt but they also clearly advocated the significance of justness of means According to them an aspirant of self realization should strictly live and behave in accordance with the moral code prescribed by the saints for the purpose They generally discarded the externally associated sites in pursuance of the high goal and emphasized the significance of inner purity sincerety devotion and complete surrender to the spiritual guru The saints prescribed a specific list of do s and donts for the guidance of a devotce aspiring for the spiritual progress The preachings and the associated moral code of conduct prescribed by saints like Jambhoji Jasaathji Dadu Haridas Laldas Charan das aod Ram Charan are by and large similar with minor changes in emphasis here and there on certain points Good conduct contentment purity self discipline truth speaking non violence compassion forgiveness non enemity feeling of cquality service to others, humbleness (benignity) sacrifice simplicity etc constituted the Itstof dos prescribed for the guidance of the people The list of donts for the guidance of the devotees included attachment greed passion anger falsehood violence stealing, reproaching conceit avarice adimus gelousy misconduct abdu rateness cating probibited food use of intoxicants etc As already pointed out earlier the saints have time and again emphasized the importance of character building for spiritual progress According to them this was simply inconceivable without the constant supervision and guidance of a guru and also without satsanga ·52 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla The satsanga or company of righteous people promotes a sense of equality and fraternity among the people on the one hand and it removes all the dirt of the people by helping them build their character on the other THE MORAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION The constant preachings of the saints in Rajasthan have singularly contributed in the process of the eradiction of social evil and have generated an atmosphere which was most congenial and ideal for character building and moral uplift The cumulative effect of all this effort was the betterment of human life especially of the common man The saints through their teachings helped in the process of raising the social dignity of the downtrodden and untouchable people The general condition of the women folk also received sufficient attention owing to their efforts The bad habit of using the intoxicants of the people was changed considerably At the end We would like to point out here the awareness and sincerity of the saints and folk deities of Rajasthan regarding the preservation of environment Some saints like Jambhoji were not only worried for the welfare of the human beings alone but were equally feeling concerned for the preservation of vegetation and animal life An important redeeming feature of these saints that deserves mention here is the emphasis they gave to self reliance They firmly believed that mere chanting of the name of Hari for begging their food would be disgraceful living It was according to them essential for every aspirant of spiritual progress to earn bis living while engaged in the path of progress SUITABLE INTERPRETATION OF SOCIAL ORDER The prevailing social hierarchies and stratification were given new orientation The saints emphasized on the classless and caste less society They strongly condemned the fragmentations in society based on caste They were of the firm opinion that all kinds of distinctions were man made which create social tension violence and oppression The God according to them treats all human beings equally as all beings are His creations Thus they stressed on the basic unity of human beings The central theme of their social thinking was bassed on humanism and their only concern was well being of the mankind The saints were detached from the material world though they lived in society like ordinary ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 53 mortals That is precisely the reason for their being concerned for the transformation of society They also played the role of social reformers Infact these saints were more worried about socially and educationally backword people such as untouchables orphans tribals downtrodden and women folk The people belonging to these classes were mostly engaged in trades and professions involving violence on the one hand and use of intoxicants on the other The sermons of the saints carried the message for these backward communities and consequently their bad habits such as quarreling killing for sport and use of narcotics were reduced to a large extent and there was some improvement in the general atmosphere in the society It may be pointed out here that the different orders establi shed by saints like Jambhoji Jasnathji, Harıdas Niranjan Laldas Dadu Ramcharan should neither be misconstrued as mere extension of the old sects nor just replacements As the older sects by and large had some reservations with regard to social hierarchy But the saints of Rajasthan had practically do reserva tions regarding classes based on caste and economic condition THE CULTURAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE SAINTS OF RAJASTHAN The medieval Rajasthan is marked for its incessant wars between tbe small states The people enjoyed the heroic tales of petty chiefs in the interstate feuds The chivalry and heroism displayed in the sanguinary wars was the chosen theme of the poets The sense of pride and glory could even beguile the rational miod of pioneer historians of Rajasthan like Co James Tod The so called history of medieval war fare and loter state feuds still coptinues to baunt the mind of the historians of Rajasthan history The chivalry and feudal structure continues to receive more than its due attention in so far as the real cultural face of medieval Rajasthan is completely veiled The modern historains who have been engaged in writing on the history and culture of Rajasthan have hardly been attracted by the rich and fascinating aspects of the glorious heritage of Rajasthan The present monograph is an attempt to outline briefly the spiritual culture of medieval Rajasthan The significance of the spiritual beritage could hardly be overlooked As the so called values and virtues of medieval society emphasizing the pride and it ·54 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla chilvalry have become redundant in the present day context the importance of the accomplishments of thº saints of Rajasthan therefore requires sufficient attention It is strange to note that so far the scholarly attention of the historians could not tap the enormous resources available for the reconstruction of the cultural history of Rajasthan The spiritual heritage of Rajasthan is a subject that needs extensive study for obvious reasons Firstly it is this aspect of the society that will give us the real picture of the pains and pleasures of the common p ople for whose amelioration and betterment these saints did contribute a lot through their sermons and discourses Secondly the saints and their social and spiritual philosophy reflects the continuity of the glorious cultural tradition of India of adoptability assimilation and synthesis Thirdly the history and culture of Rajasthan essentially represents two different patteras of life-material and spiritual The material aspect is highlighted in the accounts preserved ir the Dingal tradı tion These accounts are full of references to feuds struggles and wars for the acquisition of wealth and expansion of territorial boundaries The spiritual tradition is represented by the saints who exhorted the age old social and religious values such as tole тапсе non violence equality universal brotherhood sacrifice compassion etc DEVELOPMENT OF LITERATURE The saints used the vernacular language for conveying their message through poetry This naturally let to the growth of language and literature They have enriched the verpacular language by adding the words borrowed from Persian Rokhta (Urdu) and other regional languages and dilects such as Panjabi Sindhi Gujarati Hiodi etc The mixed language thus evolved is called Sadhukkadı The saints were not much concerned about the appropriate use of the metre in the poetic compositions They have made use of tbe traditional metrics as far as they were known to them But in course of their compositions they have invented metres more suited for their Bani Sakht Sabad Ramaint etc They have frequently used Doha metre The saints like Mira and Nagaridas have composed Pada and Kausta based on musical notations Saints like Nagaridas had written about seventy books on different aspects of literature One ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shulla 55 of his books named Isla chan!an is full of Sufi elements although he was devotee of Pushti tradition of Vallabha This shows his broadmindness DEVELOPMENT OF MUSIC The compositions of saints were based on musical notations ic, Raga and Raginis The musical instruments were frequently used while singing the devotional songs The poetical compositions of the famous saint poetess Mira for example, are completely based on Ragas and Raginis such as Asalari Ramkalı Bilaval Sarang, Bhairas ctc Similarly the compositions of llarıdas were based on as many as twenty ragas Another saint poct Nagaridas was a great musician himself He is said to have invented several new Ragos beside making use of several prevailing Ragas and Raginis for his poctic compositions. One of his typical musical composi tions is known as Sanant Sarang Raga The folk tradition of Raga used by the saints in their compositions is Raga Sorath GROWTH OF ART The saints of Rajasthan are to be broadly divided into two main sections The Sagunopasal and Nirgunopasak Mention may te made here of the fact that the saints in general have contributed toward the growth of language literature and music in Rajsthao houever, the development of art is the exclusic domain of saints belonging to the Sagunopasak fold The Varshnavite «ects or Vallabha and Mimbark were primarily responsible for the construction of temples and mar sin Rajasthan Their contribu tion for the enrichment of temple architecture and sculpture carrot be overlooked Mention may be made of the grand temples of Srinath in Nathdwara Dwarkadheesh temple in ! ankro", Mathursdheeshi temple in hots and Govinddes temple is Jz put These temples are adorced by the beautiful icons of res cive dostics Thorons are highly imposing and exquisitely carved out The history of the contribution of the laskrar - 150 Vallabh and \imbork to the entie'ıment of th- colts mit 73,112 will remain intaman-te mithout the nortos cft corin bution made hytbers in the sphre of paint or I may be pod OLT Tere thatite puruz is primanly the 109. pl Wyldig lige trub alunith manspent of colour rom eclature of the painting ng i buks meie tolact papier day belang to 27 cm ·56 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla him only the subject colour brush and imagination is important Therefore the painting of Rajasthan had its own characteristic features of course with the dominance of themes not only from Hindu mythology but also from the court tife and life of the common people In the process of evolution of paintings of Rajasthan the Jain miniature paintings of Illustrated manuscripts of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries may be taken as paintings of carly phase This followed by the development of the Kalpasutra paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries By the end of sixteenth century the Marwar and the Mewar styles of painting emerged as independent painting schools With gradual doption of Mughal technique the classical pantings lost its pre-eminance and became more sophisticated and individualistic In the seventeenth century painters began executing the illustrated copies of the Bhagavata Purana Ramayana etc in the manner in which Rajasthani and Mughal features became blended together The subjects of its inspiration were poetry drama music etc The common man of Mewarı school of painting is the representative of emotional intensity and simplicity Only simple colours have been used in these painta ings The paintings usually maintained the characteristic features of Mewar art and depicted the contemporary customs and manners Similarly the Marwar school also presents a comprehensive picture of every walk of life The use of yellow colour is predominant in the paintaings of this school The Bikaner school adopted some of its basic features from Marwar School They used both Marwar and Mughal techniques and painted hunting scenes harem life and scenes from Epics and Puranas Bundi school of painting bad close affinity with Mewar Use of yellow and red colours are noteworthy feature of these painting the punters of Burdı school were inspired by natural environment and crerted enough influence on the art styles of neighbouring states From the angle of charm beauty and perfection of expression the paintings of kishangarh school are second to none Great master artists like Sawant Singh (Nagarıdas) and Nibalchand immortalised the art and technique of paintings of Kishangarh Nagaridas was not only patron of art but also himself an expert Artist The famous paintings of Bani Thani and Radha are ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 57 supposed to be excellent examples of the art of brush and colour Shuhnasiha (raised nose of extraordinary length) and Khanjan najan (elongated eyes) are the main features of the paintings of women style We find a synthesis of art love and devotion in the paintings of Kishangarh school Comparatively the Jaipur and Alwar School show greater impact of the Mughal style The Nathdwara school of paintings form a class in itself It represents the diversity of techniques but unity of execution The painters belonging to various locations followed the same theme of manifestation of Sri Nathji with other themes of their original place This school of painting is primarily devoted to Lord Krishoa, the depiction of His life and Lila dominated as subject matter and themes of the paintings of Nathdwara IMPACT ON CULTURAL ORGANISATION The sphere of influence of the saints and folk deities had several dimensions They are certainly reeponsible for the organisation of events like sectarian congregation cultural gatherings fairs and festivals throughout the length and breadth of Rajasthan The origin and evolution of these fairs and festivals is often shrouded in mystery Notwithstanding this the fact remains that these cultural activities have certainly served the purpose of the saints They have undoubtedly proved to be powerful agents working effectively for the social transformation and emotional integration between the cross sections of society Besides providing all participants an opportunity to enjoy the bliss of the relaxed mind far away from the regular strains and stresses of daily life and living the sacred spots serve as perennial sources of inspiration affordiog supreme peace and consolation to the care worm heart of the people These fairs and festivals also give the people ample opportu Dity to mix up freely and exchange their views regarding social customs beliefs etc An important aspect of these fairs is the emergence of the place associated with them, as a centre of great commercial activity, providing the people a place to exhibit their products for sale and purchase The urban people may treat the spot as a centre for cojoyment whereas for the rural people it is more or less a necessary medium for the management of house hold requirements both-monetarly and materially The fairs also Serve the purpose of rural trade market especially for the sale and ·60 Spıntral Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla gist of true secularism According to it the spirit of secularism can not be thrust upon any religious philosophy by superior external factors but has to be inculcated within the framework of the religious beliefs so as to form a uniformly fabricated pattern with no traces of superimposition This concept requires people to abstain from prejudiced opposition of any particular socio religious organisation and ideology and to refrain from futile criticism of facts and practices related to different sects The theology and doctrines of difTerent sects and cults can be visualised as different petals of a lotus emanating from the same centre The fabric of this country is essentially secular in character if unspoilt by extraneous influences owing to the cardinal tenet of the saints that one divine existence pervades all and that links and filiations join all forms of life past and present This allows everyone to conceive his own interpretation of God (who is considered attributeless) without inviting wrath of fellow beings and being ridiculed According to saints a true devotee is not that who is a staunch follower of a particular sect and challenges the virtuosity of others but one who dedicates his life to the cause of humanity and places his faith only in the cream of humanitarian behaviour acquired either in the form of knowledge inherited from Guru or in the form of self experience if all the person associated with different sects could adhere to these high ideals of behaviour there would be no scope for mutual hatred among the people in general and commu nalism would automatically be written off Every religion has two aspects viz Shruti and Smritt The origin of all religions lies in the Shruti form and represents the spirit of unision with invisible and intangible reality The mutua) differences of all religions become defined in the stage of Shirt which deals primarily with the rites cituals pecfarazaces practices and observances to attain the basic goals set by the Shruti form Tbus while Shruti is the cohesive force between the various reli gions Smrit appears to be the dispersive one On the basis of research and study of the various faiths prevalent at the times and subsequent the saints were able to grasp the Shrutt form of the religions after deep thought and contemplation Consequently they were able to discern the Smriti form and shun it at least partially so that the harmonious Shruti form underlying the overall structure could be highlighted and all religions can clearly ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan Shukla 61 Here it be appreciated as varied paths leading to the same goal would be apt to point out that the target generally set to the bumanity by the saints was self realization (Atma Jnana) leading to Moksha and not the attainment of worldly or esoteric benefits like Siddh and Syarga The saints emphasised the need for introvert Sadhana viz Nam smaran in its simplest form They ceremonies 75 these never encouraged extrovert, pompous differentiate the religions and inter religious sects Once devoid of superimposed decorations the core of universal Dharma becomes apparent in all forms of religions and the possibility of integration of all of these in to one Vishwa Dharma becomes a probability The first and fore most responsibility of political authority 10 a country today is the maintenance of peace and order This essentially requires the eradication of communalism The roots of communalism can, invariably be traced to the entangled mass of conflicts and contradictions among religious faiths and ideologies wbich have percolated to the day through a bistory of mutual wrongs and violences It is not upto a government to wipe these out from the states of communities At the most, it can prevent the commitment of new wrongs but the atonement of old ones holds the key to the lock of peace This is bere that the role of saints philosophers thinkers and intelligentia, in general cannot be over emphasised It is only their voices which can pervade the deaf ears of the communities and fill their minds with the bliss that would engulf all the other discordant notes of hatred and violence The everlasting elixir of their doctrines of fusion aud synthesis can not only turn the comman masses to stand face to face with realities but also usher in a novel era of mutual trust i tolerance peaceful cocxistance and inspiration which would lead to the overall development and upliftment of the society as a whole The theories and thoughts of saints can always be transcripted in the presest contexts The need to do so is now more than ever The concept of Truth as Parani Dharma may be visualised in the religion of spirit to the present contexts For the defimtion of this religion of spirit which alone can effectively circumvent the harms of communalism the theology of Sant Parampara has to be resorted to VISHWA KALYAN (UNIVERSAL WELL-BEING) On carrying out deep psychological and sociological researches It becomes increasingly clear that the presently popular theories ·62 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla ideologies and social norms especially the materialistic and progress oriented approach of the west have their origin in the reality of class struggle and the survival of the fittest Under this the rise of one is inevitably based on the debris of fall of another Thus in order to be luminous ope group uses the other lower order group as fuel This is akin to that law of animal kingdom which says Jeevo Jeeiasya Jeevanam Consequently the zenith of agricultural and industrial revolutions of the western world gave birth to social economic and moral struggles Lured by the lucre of materialistic achievements people and nations thew all their efforts in following the suit without paying beed to the less conspi cuous (at least at the time) moral and spiritual decline of the Society As a result this new self centred value less culture started flourishing and expanding its field of influence pulling down the entire arema with its own decline This so called Modern Culture completely neglected the development of inherent and externally acquired virtues of various classes and focussed only on the advancements of material benefits of the self and those closely associated with the self Automatically the concept of unity of the world became null and void The credit for all this downward trend goes to the extreme competition and mutual confircts The ill effects of this culture are now boldly outlined on the fabric of social behavioural pattern in their realms of influence Obviously the aforesaid doctrines stand on the opposite end of the compass with reference to the thoughts and theories pro pounded by saints It is to be rcalised that the benefit of one lies in the benefit of community that of community in the benefit of society and that of society in the benefit of humanity as a whole Instead presently people believe in the individualistic aproaches which require a person to stand on another s shoulder for keeping his head above the rest Thas the efforts for the acquirement of material wealth and prosperity and the so called progress is not collective and leads to widespread cavy jealousy gread friction and struggle which ultimately get interwoven within the human Dature and society These tendencies further aggravate the crisis and darken the screen which separates the individual and collective benefits making it so opaque that it becomes impossible to see through The discontent intolerance and rivalry between persons ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 63 is later manifested at the community level and thea at the inter Dational level Under these conditions the possibility of world peace 15 beyond imagination Saints have considered this condition as a consequent of Maja and its allies If this could be done away with, or if a person could sec beyond the images created by Maya, then only the concord between Swartha and Parmartha become apparaat This 1s the distillate of their concept of Ninaira Dharma They have concluded that the diversity which does not allow the concept of universal unity to materialise is based upon the dualism of I and You This not only creates a deep ravine between Swartha and Parmartha, but also prevents one from being alive to and compa ssionate towards the problems faced by another This illusion of scparate existence results in the belief that one s own risc and fall is independent of that of others and people adopt seeking of self interest as the only goal of life This does not allow them to comperehend the harm inflicted by them op others during the process of working towards achievement of their target But, later when a person analyses his own actions objectively it 15 rcalised that the past endeavours have led neither to attainment of true peace and happiness nor would have refraiding from them lead to any significant adversity or loss On further contemplation it also becomes evident that by standing in the way of benefit of others a person wrongs not only the other but also his own soul as cach soul is a fragment of the sampe supreme existencc Thus finally the image of 10ternational unity remains not virtual but becomes real tangible and approachable Briefly speaking with a broad minded outlook the eternal truth pertaining to humanity is peaceful coexistence without nurturing any ill will against the achievements and endeavours of fellow beings Tbis ideology frames the background of the self explanatory terminology of saints used in this context, viz , Nirvairata Samdrishti Sambuddhi and Sarva Jana Hitaya Together they form the attributes wbich characterise the Vishwa Dharma conceived hy saints This Vishwa Dharma has heen raised on the foundation of mutual trust as the basis of relations which are subjectively different from the only relationship of modern world ie the tirelaopship of competitors The most ironical fact about this ·64 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla relationship is that even while distrusting the other a person expects that other to be instrumental in the achievements he is seeking This leads to rivalry and ingratitude, even if the sought achievements are gained and the chain continues perpetually Thus progress would come to a standstill if one considers every person beyond self as a competitor or rival On the contrary the truth is that success depends entirely upon the fact that people have to be understood and they in turn have to unerstand the conviction of the other look through his field of vision to see his goal and cooperation has to be rendered mutually This is the gist of Nirvairala The materialtsation of Lishua kaljan the universal well being lies in the quest for unity in diversity and not the vice versare diversity in unty Thus people should realise the supreme being underlying the very existence of all and not concentrate upon the features which go into the construction of individuality from the substrate of generality This ideology of saints has been accepted and adopted to suit the present context by Mahatma Gandhi This has proved their utility for modern world beyond doubt His experiments on Truth were inspired by and based on the doctrines inherited from the sarats and were universally accepted as an alternative to the principle of competitiveness of this world where material prosperity is being visualised as the aim of life THE CONTRIBUTION OF SAINTS TO THE CONSERVATION OF ENVIRONMENT Through their discourses the medieval saints made concerted efforts to eradicate social evils prevent religious abuses and remove all kinds of discrimination from the society They worked for the development of a new social order where the society would be based on mutual goodwill understanding tolerance and respectful coexistence This is only one aspect of their multi dimensional approach towards the welfare of humanity Another aspect of this effort towards well being of common masses is depicted in their concern for the environment It would be apt to mention here that the saints built up a superstructure on the foundation of the Vedic concept of preser vation of natural habitat This ideology of saints is relevant even in the present contexts The rules pertaining to the conservation ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 65 of cnvironment framed by Jambhoj: the propounder of the Bishnor sect for his followers and the zeal with which the latter observed these rules deserve special mention Lead by the awareness of their leader towards the need of preservation of the ecolo gicat balance the Bishnors have always been active for the protec tion and preservation of animal and plant life Their commitment towards the cause of protection of green trees can be gauged by the fact that on one occasion hundreds of Bishnois suffered atrocities and even laid down their fryes in order to stall the indiscriminate felling planned by the administration Similarly, a number of other saints like Jasnathji Laldas Charandas Ramcharan etc, also framed rules for the protection of all species of life As the environment has considerable impact on the living beings hence the spiritual leaders had been quite concious about the ways and means for the decrement of the level of pollution by removal of ingredients detrimental to the environmental equilibrium The oblation offered to folk deities through the sacrificial fire serve to purify the surrounding atmosphere These offerings usually consisted of ghee milk incense coconut betel nut etc On the other hand it is notable that many of the folk deities had laid down their lives while protecting the bovine population This is an example of extreme sacrifice for the cause of flor1 and fauna Consequently people in the region cannot even think of committing violence against milch cattle and old and useless live stock is never sold to slaughterhouse Moreover many of the deities are supposed to be reincornated as Serpants which often seek the hollows of trees or their roots as refuge from the scorching sun of Marudhara This serves a double purpose Not only the snake himself is assured of peaceful existence but the tree and the neigh bouring environs would not be disturbed In the modern times the attention of the Government has been drawn time and again towards the importance of conservation of environment and maintenance of ecological balance by numerous activists of the field such as Jayadayal Goyandka (the founder of Geeta Press) Sundar Lal Bahuguna (of Chipko Andolan fame) and Baba Amte (the pioneer of the agitation against the construction of Narmada Sagar Dam) These persons have strived for and succeeded in creating an awareness regarding the subject among the common masses It can be easily envisaged that an attempt to alloy the ideas of saints and the vigorous efforts of modern environ mentalists would bringforth spectacular results ·TERAPANTH Jain tradition reckons tucnty three Tortbankaras as having preceded Mahavira which tales Jainism back to fabulous antiquity The twenty third Prophet Parshva had organised a Sangha by bringing all his disciples under four categorias viz monks nuns layman and laywomen With the passage of time corruption crept into the Order and Mahavira gave it fresh impetus by reforming it The followers of Parshva and Mahavira differed on some points which may be regarded as the basis for the esolution of Sictambara and Digambara sects Infact for a few centuries after Mahavira the history of Jainism is hardly more than the history of Jain Church It is worth mentioning that the Schisn did not stop with above early division of the communities Later on these two were further divided into ganas kulas gachhas shahhas and other sub sects The gaclichas for example were divided into various groups and named after the province place caste founder peculiar rels gious rituals particular incidents etc quite interesting to note that most of the gachhas spring up in Rajasthan and Gujrat where Jainism was popular Although most of them are now non existent yet some like bharatargachha and Tapagachha are still continuing The gachhas were known for their spiritual leadership and galaxy of erudite Acharyas They succeeded in popularising the doctrines of the gachhas Among the great Acharyas of baratara mention may be made of Jineshvara Suri and his disciple Jina vallabh Suri who chose Rajasthan as the sphere of their missioners activities They started reformist movement which was followed by able successors such as Jinadatta Surl Jinachandra Suri and Jinapati Suri Probably in the ninth century the Chaitialasin tradition was established With the rise of this branch, one section was named ·Spiritual Ileritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 67 dy lidhimargis or Sin ihitamargıs The followers of this Order use to perform their religious duties at some profane piace Sthanaha and not in a temple for they were against Pratima (idol) worship According to Mahapragya Lonka shah (1415 1489 AD) may be regarded as its originator He was succecded by able Acharya like Rishi Lavaji Dharam Singh ji and Dharandas Acharya Dharamdas renamed it as Baris Tola or Basis Panth Its members are called either Dinmdijas or Dhundhakas A counter part of the Bauis Tola is the Terapanth Jain sect conceived and founded by Bhikanji in 1760 AD Bikshu (rcal name Bhikan) was born in 1726 AD at hantıla in the hantha region of ihe ihen princely state of Marwar He was son of Shah Baloojt and Dipanji who belonged to the Barsajan Bısa Oswal family of Sak lecha gotra Right from childhood Bhikan envinced signs of brilliance and was known as Jnanı Guru amongst his friends for his extra ordinary Intelligence His parents were the followers of Gachlauast sect But he was more impressed with Acharya Raghunathji of Dhundiya sect He was married to Sugantbai Bhikanji shared the responsibility of looking after the ancestral business While leading a life of householder he came into active contact with gachhauası sect and later wath Potiaband sect and made an assessmoot of their thoughts and faiths He came into the contact of Acharya Raghunathji, the Pontiff of Sthanaliasi sect who persuaded bus mother to allow Bhikanji to embrace asect cism Acharya Raghunathji himself initiated bim into the Jain ascelic life in 1751 AD The Acharya blessed him 'may your fame spread far and wide in this world like this banyan tree under which you have been initiated At the time of initiation Bbikanjt was less than twenty six years Bhikanji was highly individualistic in his approach to religion He spent the first eight years of his monastic life in profound and critical study of the Jaina texts With utmost care and enthusiasm he studied agmas (Jain canonical texts) To his utter dismay be found that the Jain ascetics were not following the instructions of the Agmas and were lax in their behaviour Despite bis rational thinking he had firm faith in his preceptor As a true disciple he revered him He sometimes put searching questions of great wisdom to him Bhikanji s master (Raghunathji) either preferred not to ansaer or maintained discreet silence The ·68 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla disciples quest and the master s affectionate tolerance continued for almost seven years But this cordial relationship did not last longer Muni Bhikanji found that the votaries of Raghunathji were getting disillusioned gradually The Shravakas of Rajnagar had already begun to boycott the monks of his Order After prolonged agony of inner struggle Bhıkanji decided to part company with his Guru Once after a visit to Rajnagar when Bhikanji returned to Acharya Raghunathji and urged him to enjoin discipline on the monks the latter remained unmoved But Bhikanje was genuinely concerned about the negligent behaviour of the monks His aim was to reverse the course of degeneration When he found that the Acharya would not listen to him he severed his ties with him The day Bhikanji separated from Raghunathu s religious Order and set out to discover the true path his Ordeal began Bhikapji realized that he would have to struggle hard single handedly in order to rejuvenate the in marga (paih shown by Tırtbankaras) Now he had twelve monks who had disowned Raghunathji along with him If he was also counted the total number of monks that constituted this group becomes thirteen He decided to reiptiate bimself as a true Jaiga monk Thus Ashadh Shukla Poornima 1760 AD was fixed for this memorable evens Hereafter Bhikshu decided to preach people and rouse their awareness against laxity For this task initially he selected Jodhpur as the most suitable place Hence when he reached Jodhpur be decided not to stay at a sthanah because he had declared this act against the vow of aparigraha (non possesston) in his search of a proper place to stay at he found some abondoned shops in the market of Jodhpur After getting the permission from their owner he stayed in one of these shops The place proved very advanta geous because it was situated on the main road and the people used to gather there to hear hit and discuss religious matters After staying at Jodhpur for some days when he moved towards Mewar he left behind thirteen committed sraikas One day the sras has of Jodhpur assembled again at the above shop for samzah re for prayer etc Dewan Fateh Chand Singht of Jodhpur happened to pass by the shop on bis way to market He enquired as to why these people were doing their prayer there instead of doing it in a sthanak? The followers of Bhikanji explained to him the approach ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan Shukla 69 of their Guru Pertaining to the number of saints and followers of this new sect, the Dewan was told that there were thirteen monks and thirteen followers only at that time The Dewan was accompanied by an attendant who was also a poet He soon composed a couplet and described the new path as Terapanth Unknowingly he had given this sect a name which Bbikanji did not even think of Thus came to the knowledge of common people the name of Terapanth Jaina sect When this news reached Bhikanji at some place in Kantba (Marwar) he stood up raised bis hands in prayer and said O God it is your path (Tera-in Hindi means yours) He explained it further as the followers practise and adhere to thirteen specific vows so it is Terapanth (Terah--in Hindi means thirteen) After this incidental naming ceremony of the sect he started preparations for his second initiation as decided earlier to put an end to the controversy between him and Raghunathji For Bhay sanjam (second initiation) he fixed the day of Ashadh Shukla 15th of 1760 A D He himself came to the village helsa near Rajnagar for Chaturmas alongwith four other monks Before Bhihanji s arrival the followers of Raghunathji had already floated rumours about him Raghunathji instructed the people not to give any help to this rebel monk and his followers Some people of village Kelwa conspired to get rid of Bhikanji od compelled him 10 stay in a deserted and haunted place called Andhert Oru It was a dark cell in an abondoned Jaina temple in the village But in the next morning they were shocked when they found Bhikanjı and other monks hals and hearty They felt ashamed of their conduct On the auspicious day of Ashadh Poornima all the saints who were with Swamiji reinitiated themselves It was on this day that the Terapanth sect was born Nomenclature of the sect had already been acquired at Jodhpur After the end of Chaturmas all the thirteen monks assembled and discussed the principles and beliefs of Bhikanji Six of the monks fell out with the sect on issues relating to Bhukanji s princi ples and deserted him Now the group was reduced to seven only for about four years the sect did not have any nun A few days later three nuns were added to the Terapanth sect At the initial stage of these hostile circumstances some times it seemed as if Acharya Bhi shu would fall into torturi ·70 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan--Shukla despair He decided that instead of preaching he should strive for self emancipation At this critial stige two monks of his group advised him not to confine himself to personal rapasja (penance) but to preach and convince people and start his missionary activities which Bhikanji accepted in night carnest and started preaching real Dharma again In 1775 A D Bhushu wrote two important Lekhpatra One was the code of conduct for Terapanth monks and the other was a letter nominathing Bharımalji as his successor Throughout his life Bhikanji worked relentlessly and never thought of rest In his old age too he worked day and night and continued religious tours and discourses for the training of young monks and nuns He had his last Chaturmas at Sıryan in 1803 AD During the month of June July Swamijt developed ailment which continued for a month Later he declared his Santhara on the twelfth day of Bhadra Shukla of 1803 A D and at the ripe age of seventy seven years Swamiji breathed his last Saint Ramcharan the founder of Shahpura peeth of Ramsneb: sect was one of the closest friend of Bhrkanji It is strange coincidence that both of them decided to adopt ascetic life in their youth Later both became ascetic in the same year (1751 A D) The influence of Jain philosophy on Ramcharan is avident from the fact that his interpretation of the Word Terapanth in bis devotional composition is exactly the same as was used by Bhikanji It is interesting to note that some of the rules of conduct for the followers of Ramsnehi seet are quite identical to those of the Terapanth works CONTRIBUTION OF ACHARYA BHIKSHU Acharya Bhikshu s contributions to the Terapanth Order as a founder and propagator are manifold He is supposed to bavc revolutionised one the contenporary Jain religion and philosophy and paved the way for its rejuvenation Although this started in a modest way but in due course of time it became a dominiat force for the transformation of the Jain Order in particular and society in general Looking into the popularity of this sect it would be in the fitness of things to give credit to Bbikanji for his fortitude With the gradual acceptance of the interpretation of Jain Scriptures and their commentaries by Acharya Bhikshu and ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shihla 71 other Acharyas of Terapanth it has achieved its objective It is primarily because the ideas and interpretations of Acharya Bhikshu and his followers were free from prejudice narrow vision and orthodoxy According to him the path to Lord is not a bypass or lane but 2 highway which does not end at a blind alley This is the straight road leading to eternal bliss and Nirana According lo Yuvacharya Mahapragya Acharya Bhikshu regarded all religions as one He had even advocated that sinless acts of a man of perverse attitude leads him to religion and thus emphasised original liberal Jain tradition in a more comprehensive manner The trinity of Jainism ie right attitude right knowledge and right conduct is all embracing as ocean and all pervading as 10 Therefore the religious objective is for one and all This attitude of Bhikshuji is regarded as the keystone of the Terapanth Here it is pertinent to mention that the Acharya was not interested in founding a new sect but perhaps it was so destined and that he had to accept the unavoidable He was a great champion of unity of religions and a form believer of non violence He denounced violence in any firm physical or mental and declared that the attitude and thinking cannot be segregated from actual doing One cannot be protected at the cost of another Even mercy killing of creatures though with a sence of profound compassion cannot be regarded as a duty and it should be sbunned at a earlist The contribution of Acharya Bhikshu in the field of Jain traditional thought is unique His interpretation of the doctrines of Dan and Daya are of their own kind and on the basis of this he parted company with his preceptor Acharya Raghunatbji of Sthanakası sect According to contemporary Jain thinking Dan 18 a gift to a needy person and it is a constituent of religion Similarly Daja is expressed out of pity According to Acharya Bhikshu Dan of considered only giving alms to needy people and through it accumulating religious excellence then those especially the poor who do not give Dan will certainly be discarded from religion and will have no place in heaven whatsoever In that situation the religion would be monopolised by only the rich Bhiksbu declared that Dan has nothing to do with religion time and agian emphasised the right attitude towards the concept of Dan If one feels that he has more than his needs he should pass it away to the more needy According to Acharya each Jong He ·72 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla present on earth depends upon other Juas for its existence It is therefore erroneous notion to deprive the Ina from its very life whatever may be the pretext of doing so People should be con vinced to observe non injury and leave acts of savagery Bhikshu s contribution towards the enrichment of Jain litera ture is superb The original Jain canonical literature was written in Prakrala Apbhranslia and Sanskrit which were not commonly used during late medieval period Regional languages and dialects were used as medium of expression Bhikshujt also adopted Rajasthanı as the medium of communication and he composed religious instructions in Rajasthani in the form of Dhal ie lyrical poems His compositions were also always in accordance with musical notations Acharya Tulsi has edited three of such volumes The aim of the Acharya was communication with the masses It is Interesting to note that original and authentic copy of Bhikshuji s writings are now preserved at Jain Vishwa Bharat Ladnun ACHARYA BHARIMAL AND ACHARYA RAICHAND We have already seen how Acharya Bhikshu rebelled against the commonly prevalent concepts of religion He launched relent less struggle and cru ade against the erroneous interpretation of Jain Shastras Thus the foundation of the Terapanth Jain Order had been laid deep and the new Order was destined to grow in size and stature with the passage of time Once the Terapanth Jain thought took the form of an institution it necessitated the conti nuation of the tradition of nominating successors to carry on the unfinished task of the founder Muni Bharımal was the immediate successor Acharya Bhikshu He was a distinguished monk out of the group of ascetics who parted company with Acharya Raghunathji to join muni Bhrkanji s Order Bharimalji was born in a middle class family of Oswals (Gotra Lodha) Jains in 1747 AD at Bara Mooha Village near Bhilwara His father was hishnoji and mother s name was Dhami Devi Bharimaljt was initiated into the Terapanth Jain sect at the young age of ten years with his father at Bagor His Deeksha Guru was undoubtedly Muni Bhilanji Munt Bbarimal was a dedicated disciple of Acharya Bhikshu He spent forty four years under his Guru with utmost sincerity and devotion Th major portion of his formal education was accomplished under the guidance of Acharya Bhikshu During the course of Muni ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 73 Bharimals learning his master did his best to make himself dependent Muni Bharimal was an extraordinary copier of the Terapanth literature About half a million shlokas were copied by him from ten important religious books He also had an As a result opportunity to copy each composition of his Guru of his strenuous endeavour all the copies of Acharya Bhikshu s writings became popular as the only authentic copies Muni Bharımal was declared the first ever Yuvacharja of the Terapanth Order He remained Yuacharya for 28 long years before taking over the charge of Acharyaship in 1803 A D He was a good orator too The interpretation and presentation of facts in sound and lucid voice of Acharya Bharımal attracted bis audience from far and near both from Terapanth as well as from other sects His reputation as a true ascetic went far beyond the narrow limits of his own sect Many monks from other sects use to come to him for guidance Acharya Bharımal was an exponent of emancipation of women He insisted on the education of girls in particular Under the guidance of Acharya Bharimal the Terapanth Order witnessed manyfold developments The number of monks and nuns increased steadily strengthening the Sangha to a great extent It was coincidence that he happened to meet and initiate one of his most enlightened disciples at Jaipur during his visit in 1790 AD He was Muni Jeetmal On the request of some Sravkas Acharya Bharımal visited Udaipur in the summer of 1818 AD He was welcomed by all sections of society Citizens of Udaipur made the best use of the highly enlightened group of Jain theologians and thinkers During their one month s stay Maharana bimself visited them for about eleven times Acharya Bharımal was a keen observer of tbe bebaviour of his fellow monks From the year 1820 AD it was noticed that due to old age and some ailments Acharya Bharimal Teduced ibe number of bus long tours and undertook short journeys Having realized the gradual decline in his health be decided to nominate his successor Though a man of very strong will and austere babits, Acharya Bharımal could not prove his mettle in the matter of nomination of his successor happened that when Acharya Bharimal wrote in bis own hand the succession letter munis (monks) were astonished to see three names of his successors After the repeated requests of muni Jeetmal and others he then chose Muni Raichand as his successor It so ·76 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla occupied the seat of the Acharya of Terapanth sect Acharya Jayacharya made untiring efforts for the growth and progress of Terapanth He innovated the methodology for the over all expansion of the Terapanth Order Jayacharya was also a calligraphist par excellence He inspired his Sadhus and Sadhuis to improve their handwriting Side by side the skills of painting sewing and polishing utensils were also developed in the Terapanth Order He himself wrote the life history of Acharya Bhikshu and his own predecessor Acharya Rishi Rai He contributed not less than 126 books to the literaty treasure of Terepanth and Rajasthani language Jayacharya introduced several new rules and practices He is credited with giving rise to many novel spiritual practices Celebration of Pattotsava Marjada Mahoisia etc were some of the important celebrations which be initiated Acharya Jayacharya remained a strict disciplinarian to the last breath of his tife It is said that in the rocky region of divergent ideologies and philosophies a man of foresight Acharya Bhikshu carved out a narrow track for the seekers of truth Acharya Jeetmal or Jaya charya turned it into a royal road Under his Acharyaship Terapanth spread in many distant area of India for first time and ignited the spark of the religious awakening People in large numbers embraced Terapanth religion Jayacharya had an impre ssive personality Almost every time he met an administrator or a ruler during his religious tours he left an indelible impression of his dynamic personality on hım During Sbri Jayacharya s stay at Jaipur in 1880 81 AD the ruler of Jaipur Maharaja Ram Singh used to visit him in disguise Jayacharya was endowed with a great Vision also He was a multi faceted personality Like his three predecessor Acharyas Jayacharya also nominated his successor The choice fell on Mudi Maghraj in 1863 A Dat Churu As Yujacharya Maghvagani (Magbraj) relieved bis Guru of the heavy burden of disciplining the order Jayacharya got an ample opportunity to concentrate on achieving the perfection of Swadhi aja From 1873 AD till his death in 1880 AD he suffered from one or the other ailments which resulted in the reduction of his movement ID 1879 AD be decided to move to Jaipur on the request of a prominent Sraiak Lala Bherulal and reached Jaipur la 1880 A D he had his Chaturmasa and the Maryada Mahotsav at jaipur Jayacharya had bus succeeding at ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 77 Jaipur Charurmasa after cancelling the tour of Thall area (Bikaner etc) His health deteriorated and Jayacharya attained his nirvan in 1881 AD Thus came to an end the most dynamic era of the fourth Acharya ACHARYA MAGHVAGANI In the year 1851 A D a boy of eleven years named Maghva was initiated to the Terapanth Dharmı Sangha by Yuvacharya Jectmalje at Ludaun city This child monk later became the fifth Acharya of Terapanth sect He was born at Bidasar in 1840 A D Since he was born in Magha Nakshatra therefore he was named as Maghva At a very tender age he lost his father and the responsibility of looking after him devolved on bis mother Mother Bannoji expressed her desire to cmbrace the ascetic life together with Maghva He looked handsome and attractive Acharya Kaluganı (the eighth pontiff) often used to say that he had never seco such a magnetic personality in bis life Maghvagani was gifted with high ascetic instincts and conscientiousness For his modest and meak behaviour be was known as Ajatshatru (one who doesn t have any enemy) He is known as the first Scholar of Sanskrit 10 Terapanth sect though the seeds of Sanskrit learnog were sown by Jayacharya Maghvagapı strove hard to learn the Jain Agamas His memory was very sharp He was an extraodinary calligrapbist His sote aim was to help and serve others His submissive nature was a source of great inspiration to other saints In 1862 AD he was exempted from the routine duties of a monk and nominated as Yuvacharya (heir apparent) in 1863 A D by Acharya Jayacharya Maghyagani was twenty four at the time of bis nomination as Yuracharya Maghvagan, got elevated as Acharya in 1881 AD at Jaipur after the demise of the fourth Acharya and looked after the Terapanth Sangha for eleven and a half years with utmost dedica tion After three continuous Chaturmas 10 Thalı area he decided to move to Marwar in 1885 AD he stayed at Jodhpur for Chaturmas He toured Mewar Ajmer and Thali area and had to be hospitalised there for treatment In 1892 AD when he was camping at Ratangarh, the Acharya had a constant tendency of nausea and fever Physically he became very weak Considering ·78 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan Shukla that the end of life was fast approaching Acharya Maghvagani took an immediate step of nomioating Manakgani as his Yuva charja On Chaitra Krishna 2nd 1892 AD He wished that he should be put in sitting posture As soon as he was put in that position be took a yang and his soul departed Thus came the end of the life of the fifth Acharya of Terapanth ACHARYA MANAK GANI Acharya Manakgani the sixth Pontiff of the Terapanth belonged to the family of Hukam Chandji and Sat Chotuji of Shrimalt caste and Kharad gotra He was born at Jaipur on Bhadra Krishna 4th 1855 AD Manak was only two years old at that time when bis father died When Jayacharya was having his Chaturmas at Jaipur in 1871 AD a sixteen year old young boy Manak came into contact with the Acharya At an appro priate time Manak expressed his desire to Jayacharya to become a monk Jayacharya initiated him to monk s life in 1871 AD He attracted the attention of Jayacharya because of his brilliance cultured behaviour politeness and adaptability Manakgaoi learnt much more under the guidance of Jayacharya for about nine and a half years In 1892 AD Acharya Maghvaganı fell ill at Sardarshahar and became very weak Kaluji (the elder) and Motiji Swami etc approached bim and requested him for the nomination of Yusacharya and make a written declaration to that effect Acharya accepted their request and wrote a succession letter op Chaitra Krishna 2nd 1892 AD at Sardarshahar Manakganı was formally nominated as Yuvacharya Manakgani could remain as Yuvacharya only for four days He was formally installed on the seat of the Acharyaship of Terapanth following the death of his Guru It seems that Acharya Manakgapı had a great fascination for undertaking tours and visiting new places After completing four months stay at Sardarsbahar he set out on his tour to Haryana 10 1893 A D This year Acharya Madakganı had Maryada Mahotsaia at Hans After a stay of 27 days at Bhiwani Aeharya moyed towards Rajasthan Till the completion of half of his sojourn at this place he was bale and hearty He had his last Chaturmas at Sujangarh 10 1897 AD Here he fell ill When people requested him for the domination of his successor he did not pay any hecd to their request Acharya Manakganı told the monks that he was ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 79 well aware of his duty and would make pecessary and proper arrangements needed by Terapanth Sangha at a proper time In the night he breathed his last It was the first time in the history of Terapanth that a Pontiff passed away without nominating his successor Unnerved by the situatton the monks nominated Muni Maganlalji and Kaluramji to look after the general management of the Sangha After the conclusion of the current Chaturmas Muni kaluji proposed the name of Muni Dalchandji in his absence for the Acharyaship with the consent of saints and nuns Everybody accepted it and thus came the end of suspense and uncertainity in the Sangha ACHARYA DALGANI SWAMI Dalchand was born in Ujjain (M P) as a son of Kaai Ramoji and Smt Jadananji of Osual family in 1852 A D His father died when Dalchand was of a tender age In the absence of his father Dalchand was brought up by bis mother But she became a nun when Dalchand was only elevan years old After the initiation of his mother to the ascetic life Dalchand also felt fascinated towards religious conduct and within three years he took initiation to asceticism and became a monk From Indore Dalchand set out for Thali and Jayacharya the then Acharya handed him (Dalmudi) over to Hiralalji for proper education There he learnt by heart the five Agamas These years proved to be the most important years as regards this young ascetic for the study of the fundamentals of Jainism He was a good orator with a loud and clear voice and used to influence the audience by his speech In 1897 A D the Sixth Acharya of Terapanth sect passed away at Sujangarh without nominatiаg his successor Most of the monks and nuns later had congregated at Ladoun Everybody was anxious to know the action of the monks regarding the election of the next head of the Sangha Taking into consideration the feelings of all tbe monks and nuns Dalganı Swami was declared by Kaluji Swami as the Seventh Pontiff of Terapanth Order When Dalgani alongwith seven mooks reached Chopasanı village ten Kms from Jodhpur a few Sravakas met him They informed him about his unanimous domination as the seventh Acharya of the Panth From Jodhpur, Dalgapı reached Ladnun where he was appropriately welcomed Thus it was for the first time ·80 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla in the history of Terapanth sect that the seat of the Acharya remained vacant for almost three months As Acharya his radiance became so powerful that what to say of monks even the Sravakas couldn t dare see him and touch bis feet He remained Acharya of the Terapanth Order for almost twelve years Acharya Dalgani s tenure experienced the ghastly and horrible faminc which Rajasthan had ever encountered in 1899 AD While touring Mewar he fell seriously ill All monks and nuns approached Acharya Dalganı to declare the name of his successor the same day Being convinced Acharya asked for writing material and wrote the name of his heir apparent the Likhit (document) in his Putha It was the name of Mun halu of Chapar Gradually Acharya Dalgan, became very sick On Bhadra Shukla 12th 1909 A D he developed acute breathing trouble It was noticed by all that Acharya was going to leave bis body In this way after some time the Seventh Pontiff of Terapanth sect died He put soon ACHARYA KALUGANI Acharya Kalugani was born on Phalgun Shukla 2 (Thursday) 1876 A D His father was Moolchandji and mother Choganjı The family had faith in a village diety Kala Bhairon therefore he was generally called as Kalu by bis parents Separation from one s father at an early age was usually the destiny of every pontiff of Terapanth In 1877 A D when he was only three his father died Kaluran usually preferred the company of monks and puns to others Thus gradually the boy and his mother developed inclination and love for the religious life Choganji requested to the Acharya for initiation to the ascetic life at Bidasar In 1887 A D Kaluram his mother Choganji and Kankaowar were initiated by Acharya Maghvagani to ascetic life Kalumuni started his lessons of education and learning under the able guidance of bis Guru Acharya Maghvaganı took every care for his education He was of the view that learning Sanskrit was the key for the study of Jain Agamas Terapanth was now proceeding towards self sufficiency in the field of Sanskrit grammar Now it had the key to the study of scriptures Acharya Kalugani was a mission personified The ninth Acharya of Terapanth sect Acharya Tulsi is the paragon of his ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 81 creation We are informed that he could not enjoy the Yuvacharyaship because his name was not proclaimed during Dalganı s life time Magan Lal Swami proclaimed Kalugani s name as the eightb Acharya of Terapanth in 1909 A D after the death of Dalganiji During Acharya Kalugani s tenure Terapanth Order experienced a comprehensive expansion The number of ascetics in the order had broken all previous records But the number of monks expelled from the order was also the highest under him ie 35 The tenure of Acharya Kaluganı recorded the first visit of some foreign Scholars of Jainism to the Terapanth Sangha like Prof Hermon Jacobi, Dr L P Tessitory and Prof Glency Incidently Acharya Kalugant had to face a considerable amount of hostility from monks of other Jain sects But he advised his followers to remain calm and turn a deaf ear to this criticism On the request of the Srarakas of Haryana, Acharya Kalugaui decided to visit Haryana When Acharya Kalugani was going towards Jawad he became 111 When he reached Bhilwara Dr Nandlalji started bis systematic treatment But all his efforts to beal his wound proved futile Gradually he became very weak Still he moved from Bhilwara and reached Gangapur He wrote the nomination letter and gave it to Muni Tulsi Acharya put on a white robe and the next moment removed it and passed it over young Mun Tulsi He asked for some water to drink and after seven minutes he breathed his last ACHARYA TULSI AND HIS ANUVRATA MOVEMENT Acharya Tulsi is the pinth Poptiff of the Terapanth Jain sect and he is regarded as the propounder of the concept of Anu rata movement He was born on October 20 1914 at Ladoup in an Oswal Kbatter family His parents were Shri Jhumarmal and Vadoaji Unfortunately his grand father died in 1916 and father 10 1918 Tulsi started his formal school education at the age of erght His first teacher was Nandlalji When one of his brother Champalalji became a monk in 1923 AD Tulsi felt more and more drawn towards Jain religion Tulsi was initiated into the Terapanth sect by the Acharya in 1925 A D His education began under the supervision of his monk brother Champalali with the direct patronage of the Acharya bimself within a short span of time young Tulsi mastered Sanskrit language and various other books on literature philosophy and ·82 Spiritual Ikrilage of hajusslan--Slukla Agun ar Tulsi acquired proficiency in writing poetry in Rajasthani dilect h sides hiling nchiesci a nick for d litering discoursas Durin the last three years of holuşini s lifc Tulss is the closest follower of the Acharya Acharyn halucanı had his last Ch umgs at Gangapur near Bhilurra in 1976 AD) in ile 577- ieir he wrote the Til hita and It was reid out in the presence of 1 rull gathering and his nomi nation was procluimod Four dans lates Hall on breathed his Jast Th Suvachuria tool the responsibility of Acharyaship of the lar[est single order of monks and nuns amonst ite Jain sects of th world on 9th of Bhadr Shukla 1:16 AD Acharyt Tulst wanted to deve te his time in removing the imperfections of his sect in general and cul practices of th- Sroraha San aj in pusticulir Bicentenary celchrations of Terapanth were organised on a massic cale in the op n session hc cam out with his plan called 12ja mood (New Turn) Bs his forceful and dorous discourses Acharyn Tulsi was able to inspire the reople during his compaign for a positive response Acharya Tulsi 5 Anurala moscment could sufficiently be referred to as an example of his deter mination against society wrapped in collosal ignorince Acharya Tulst brought about many changes in the rules of behaviour and norms of observance for the monks and nuns of the Terapanth scct In the course of guiding and cnlightening the Jain community in every field editing of the deanas was an important endeavour in this direction which he look in 19'0AD Originally it had been planned to bring to light the rich treasure of knowledge enshrined in 32 Agamas The Acharya believes that a religion which lacks the power to transform life is not the true religion Ilc has tried at his level to save society from narrow sectarian conflicts communal riots and untouchability Achary i Tulsi and many other thinkers could not only apprchend the unii crsal nature of religion but also successfully made it a significant tool to solve the pational and international problems The credit for an oscrall efficient planning of a potential educational structure gocs to this ninth Acharya only Many institutions were planned by his inspiration The outlines of Parmarthic Shikshan Sansthan and Jain ishna Bharti were prepared In order to rcalize this idea of world peace into reality J V B has recently cstablished the International Institute ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 83 of Peace and non violence In the year 1983 ANUVIBHA was also founded with the aims to further the cause of cultural and religious tolerance among the peoples of the world through Anuirata Preksha Meditation and Jeevan Vijnana Acharya Tulsi after studying the sacred literature and computing the necessities of disturbed human society in India and abroad tried to do something at his own level Accordingly he propounded the concept of Anusrat Movement On March 2 1949 at Sardar Shahar Acharya Tulsi launched his Anuvat Movement Through this movement the Acharya urged the individuals to pledge themselves willingly to observe the anuvratas through introspections and self restraint The Late Acharya haluganı had seen in Tulsi the future of Terapanth and the accomplishment of his noble cause The Acharya bas fulfilled the aspirations of his preceptor CONTRIBUTION OF ACHARYA TULSI Acharya Tulsi realised that peace wis possible only when the tree of violence is completely uprooted from the minds of people He therefore propounded a new system of education which was known as Jeevan Vijnana Presently both Acharya Tulsi and Yuvacharya Mahapragya are concentrating on the propagation of this method For strengthening and revitalising the process of emancipation 7 three dimensional program of human transforma tion consisting of Jeeran Vijnana Amrvrata and Prehsha Dhyana has been devised During the last two decades Terapanth has shown phenomenal progress in all directions Crossing the boun daries of the country its echo can be heard in different parts of the world It has inspired new hopes among the people against the vicious atmosphere of ever increasing violence and conflicts The chauvinistic approach of aationalism regionalism religious fundamentalism economic subjugation and accumulation of nuclear arsenal have posed a great danger for integration and humanity Terapanth under the able leadership of Acharya Tulsi has shown great concern for this universal phenomenon and they have taken up active lead to solve the problem in their own novel way The Anuprata movement is an effort in the right direction In the preamble to Anuvrata Acharya Tulsi conceived that the progress or the regress of a society is best judged by the thoughts and deeds of its people As an individual ·84 Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla is a unit of the society the key to the perfection of society lies in the upliftment of the character of the individual The develop ment of character remains incomplete until there is perfect concord and unity between ones thought and actions On March 2 1949 Tulsi launched his Anu rata movement which has now become a non violent multi cultural universal human movement One may be cautioned here that it is not Alladın s lamp and one should not expect miracle but it is becoming popular and more and more people are joining hands irrespective of their place and faith in order to materialise this novel experiment Two international conferences have been organised since 1988 They aimed at achieving the goals of human solidarity universal brotherhood preservation of ecological balance and creation of a non violent socio political world order Terapanth under the stewardship of Acharya Tulsi and Yuva charya Mahapragya stands distinct on account of its being responsive to the changing patterns of time It has evolved new methods and techniques better suited to a true religion and bas undertaken a pbased program of reorientation towards the evolu tion of a novel global social order It has not only fascinated a sizeable section of enlightened and learned people in the country but has also created a large number of admirers throughout the world YUVACHARYA MAHAPRAJNA SUCCESSOR OF ACHARYA TULSI Following the convention Acharya Tulst nominated Muoi Nathmal (The Mahaprajna) as his successor on February 3 1979 A D at Rajaldesar town Nathmalji is son of Shri Tolaramji and Smt Baluji and belongs to Chordia Oswal family He was born in Tamkaur village on June 14 1920 A D Nathmal lost his father at an early age of three months In 1929 A D Natbmal aloog with his mother visited the Acharya who inspired him to the extent that he decided to join his fold and was initiated at Sardarsbabar Acharya kalugani entrusted Manı Tulst with the responsibility of imparting proper trainiog and education to Nathmaiji Muni Nathmal was given intense training of Jaina literature aod philosophy by bis teachers ·Spiritual Heritage of Rajasthan-Shukla 85 In 1943 A D at the age of 23 Nathmalji was appointed Agraganja and in 1965 A D Acharya Tulsi dominated him as "Nikaya Sachiv On November 12 1978 A D Acharya Tulsi conferred on him the title Mahaprajna Muni Nathmalji came to be known by his upadh ic Mahaprajna and he is still popular as Mabaprajna among the masses He has the quality of a versatile writer Over the years the volume of his creative writing incressed Malaprajna developed the capacity of a competent orator too In our opinion Mahaprajna is essentially a creative writer but he is widely regarded as an exponent of Acharya Tulsis philosophy Yuvacharya Mahaprajna is credited with having produced more than hundred and twenty books either penned by himself or compiled by others on the basis of his lectures He has written books on wide subjects like philosophy Preksha Dhyan life of great personalities and their ideas prose poetry and Sanskrit literature

·SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Sant Bani Sangrah Pt 1 and 2 Belevedere Press Allababab
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Calcutta 1969
Briggs GW Gorakbnath and the Kanphatha Yogis Delhi 1973
Bishnor Sonaram Baba Ramdev It has aur Sahitya Jodhpur
Charan Chandradan Alakbiya Sampraday Bikaner 1964
Chaturvedi Parasburam Uttari Bharat ki Sant Parampara
Allahabad 1972
Chaturvedi Parshuram Sant Sahitya ke Prerana Srot Delhi 1975
Chaturvedi Parshuram Kabir Sahitya ki Parakh Allahabad 1972
Chaturvedi Parshuram Sant Sahitya ki Parakh Allahabad 1982
Chaturvedi Parshuram Mirabai k Padawali Allahabad 1983
Chaturvedi Parshuram (Ed) Kabir Kosh Allahabad 1973
Chaturvedi Sitaram Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya aur Pushti
Marg Varanasi 1966
Chaukas Ram Shri Ramsdebu Dharmaprakash Bikaner 1931

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