First of all, I am grateful to God Almighty for enabling me to complete this research and for all of God's love and grace upon me and upon my family during the period of research.
My deepest gratitude and sincere thanks go to late Dr K.P. Aleaz, the research supervisor. Dr K.P. Aleaz has been an inspiring teacher and a supportive mentor from my postgraduate days. His academic acumen and constant encouragement have enabled the completion of this work. I wish also to thank Dr P.S. Jacob, who by his thoughts and love inspired me to take up the study of religions and has been a great source of encouragement to me from the beginning of my theological journey. I also remember with gratitude the valuable insights given to me by Drs P.S. Jacob, David C. Scott, David N. Lorenzen, Sant Bhagirathidasji and Sant Harishdasji.
My sincere gratitude goes to all the faculty members of North India Instiutute of Post Graduate Theological Studies (NIIPGTS). The academic resource and guidance of the Faculty members of both the Serampore College, Serampore and Bishops College, Kolkata have immensely benefited my research.
I am grateful to Allahabad Bible Seminary and its former Principal late Rev. J. Sundara Raj for granting me study leave and for taking care of my family as they stayed behind in the campus during the period of my research. I am grateful to South Asia Theological Research Institute (SATHRI) for providing me with the scholarship which made my doctoral research possible.
I am also grateful to the librarians and staff of Bishops College, Kolkata; Serampore College, Serampore; Ramakrishna Mission, Gol Park, Kolkata: National Library, Kolkata; United Theological College, Bengaluru; Kabir Caura Mutt Library, Benares and Allahabad Bible Seminary, Allahabad.
I also wish to thank the Acarya of the Benares Kabir Caura Mutha Sant Vivekdas Saheb, the former Acarya Gangasaran Sastri and the Mahant of the Magahar Mutt Sant Vichardas Saheb as well as all the monks especially Umeshdasji, Bhagirathidasji, Arvinddasji and Devendradasji and the lay members of the Kabir Caura Mutha Benares for taking me as one among them and extending a warm hospitality to me whenever I visited them.
I am deeply indebted to my parents for all their prayers and support throughout my research work. I thank my wife Preeti who generously and lovingly shared the burden and the blessings involved with the research and had given her unconditional support, sacrificing her interests and took care of the family while I was away during the three years of research period of my Doctoral study. Most of all, I am grateful to both our sons Nathan and Ethan, to whom I dedicate this thesis. Nathan was born when I was away during the residential study period. I regret that I was not able to be with him in his most important childhood days as I missed the joy of seeing him growing up. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Shri Susheel Mittal and his team at D.K. Printworld for their meticulous work in bringing out this book.
This book in its original form is the thesis submitted to the Senate of Serampore College, towards the Doctor of Theology degree and is published with written permission. The author is sponsibe for the title, contents and opinions expressed in it.
THE medieval Hindu Bhakti movement in north India was a harbinger of egalitarian ideals. It articulated devotionalism and stood for the emancipation of the marginalized community. The main proponents of this movement were the saints who were the stalwarts of socio-religious reforms during the medieval period. They not only revitalized Hinduism but also brought solidarity to the Hindu society. It was a defining moment in the religious history of India as medieval Hindu bhakti accentuated religious freedom and social emancipation to the subaltern community. Kabir was one such medieval saint who belonged to the Nirguna tradition of Bhakti movement. He articulated an interiorized religion and stood for the emancipation of the subaltern community. Influenced by his enigmatic personality and teachings, his followers, mostly from the subaltern community, the Kabirpanthis, have imbibed his teachings and concern for subaltern liberation.
The Research Problem
The book investigates the bhakti teachings and practices of subaltern Kabīrpanth community attached to the Benares Kabir Caurā branch in comparison with the medieval bhakti thought of their guru and founder, Kabīr. By doing so, the book investigates the Kabīrpanthis' attempt at dissent and submissiveness vis-à-vis the dominant Sanskritic Hindu tradition. This dual strategy of dissent and submissiveness is analysed through subaltern postcolonial lens as well as by employing social-anthropological-empirical research.
Background of the Study
During the medieval period (thirteenth to seventeenth century CE) Hinduism underwent a transformation so great that it has been compared to that of Reformation in Western Christianity. A new attitude to God, emotional, passionate bhakti, replaced the old approaches of sacrificial rite and non-dual meditation. Pushing aside old gods, old attitudes, old cultural forms, the new movement also drove the sacred language Sanskrit back into the memories of the priests. In the first centuries of their growth all modern Indian vernacular literatures were moulded by this religious movement, and thus were essentially mass literatures. The socio-ritualistic order dominated by the brahmaņas were not overthrown, but the brahmanas lost much of their spiritual authority, which passed to the saints and the gurus, whose songs and biographies soon became a scripture. The new devotional religion, without destroying the Hindu social framework, fostered ideas of brotherhood/sisterhood and equality before the loving Lord. Its saints drawn from all levels of society proclaimed that, in bhakti, caste has no meaning (Jordens 1975: 266). This was the beginning of medieval Hindu bhakti in the Indian religious tradition. In the context of north India, all Sikhs as well as almost all Hindus may be called followers of Bhakti religion, since their dominant mode of worship is one of devotion (bhakti) towards a divine being (Lorenzen 1996: 1).
The advent of Islam in northern India and the overthrow of the Rajputs by the Turks towards the end of the twelfth century unleashed powerful forces which paved the way for the growth of bhakti as a popular movement. The violent end of the Rajput-brahmana alliance removed a big obstacle to the growth of those movements that opposed the varna system (Chandra 2003: 295). The prestige and influence commanded by the brahmaņas received a severe setback with the coming of Islam in north India. The loss of power and influence by the brahmaņas and the resultant freedom for the growth of anti-caste movements cleared the ground for the development of Bhakti movements (ibid.: 297, 299).
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Goddess (510)
Bhakti (248)
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