Nirguna Bhakti Saints (Kabir, Guru Nanak, Ravidas)

At a Glance

• Stream Nirguna: God without form
• Kabir Weaver of Banaras; fifteenth century
• Guru Nanak 1469 to 1538; born at Talwandi
• Ravidas Cobbler saint; hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib
• Common theme Unity of God, rejection of ritual and caste
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Medieval History: Bhakti and Sufi Movement

Where Does It Fit?

This is the second topic of the category on the Bhakti and Sufi movement. The previous topic gave the origins of Bhakti, and this topic covers its formless, non-sectarian stream. The next topic covers the saguna saints who worshipped Rama and Krishna. Previous topic: Origins and Features of the Bhakti Movement.

What Is Nirguna Bhakti?

In short: nirguna Bhakti is devotion to a formless, one God, and it was the non-sectarian stream led by Kabir and Nanak that made a strong plea for Hindu-Muslim unity.

Among those most critical of the existing social order and keenest for Hindu-Muslim unity, Kabir and Nanak stand out. They were not social reformers in a formal sense, but they urged reform of the individual under a true guru. Their message found fertile ground because Sufi ideas of equality had already spread and the old order had lost prestige.

What Did Kabir Teach?

There is much uncertainty about Kabir’s dates and early life. He is generally placed in the fifteenth century and is believed to have been a disciple of Ramananda. By legend he was the son of a Brahman widow, abandoned at birth and raised by a Muslim weaver, whose trade he learned. At Kashi he met both Hindu and Muslim saints. He stressed the unity of God, whom he called by many names such as Rama, Hari, Govinda, Allah, Sain and Sahib. He strongly denounced idol worship, pilgrimages, bathing in holy rivers and formal worship, including namaz. He did not think it necessary to give up household life, and he valued neither asceticism nor book learning for true knowledge. He attacked caste and untouchability and was opposed to discrimination by caste, religion, race, family or wealth. His sympathies lay with the poor, with whom he identified himself. His poems are in a mixed dialect and passed down orally, so the texts vary. His followers shrank to a sect, the Kabir Panth.

What Did Guru Nanak Teach?

Nanak had no intention of founding a new religion. His broad approach aimed at bridging the distance between Hindus and Muslims and at creating an atmosphere of peace and goodwill. In time his ideas gave birth to Sikhism, as covered in Guru Nanak and the Founding of Sikhism.

Who Was Ravidas?

Ravidas was a saint born near Varanasi into the leather-working Chamar community, considered untouchable. Tradition makes him a disciple of Ramananda, and he is counted among Ramananda’s low-caste disciples, though his dates are unsettled. He favoured the nirguna idea of the divine and is credited with opposing caste and gender divisions. Forty-one of his poems are included in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib. Today the Ravidassia movement treats him as a guru. Stories linking him with Mirabai are legend with no firm evidence.

What Was the Impact and What Were the Limits?

The old forms of religion continued almost unchanged, and no major breach was made in the caste system. Kabir’s followers became a sect and Nanak’s ideas became Sikhism. But the mission of Kabir and Nanak created a climate of opinion that worked through the following centuries. The religious ideas and policies of Akbar reflected their fundamental teachings. Orthodox elements in Hinduism and Islam rallied behind the old faith, and the struggle between a liberal, non-sectarian trend and an orthodox one lay at the heart of the intellectual controversies of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. As an analytical point, the nirguna saints created a platform for unity more than a structure for reform.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Core saints Kabir and Nanak are standard questions
• Unity A model of Hindu-Muslim understanding
• Link Leads to Akbar’s religious policy and Sikhism

What Came Next?

The next topic covers the saguna saints who worshipped Rama and Krishna in forms. Next topic: Saguna Bhakti Saints (Tulsidas, Surdas, Mirabai, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu).

Key People and Terms

• Nirguna Without attributes or form
• Kabir Panth Sect of Kabir’s followers
• Mardana Nanak’s companion on the rabab
• Guru Granth Sahib Sikh scripture with verses of Kabir and Ravidas
• Guru Teacher
• Chamar Leather-working community

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions on these saints ask about teachings and impact. These points add depth.

• Teaching One God, personal devotion, anti-ritual
• Society Rejection of caste and untouchability
• Limit No breach in the caste system