Devotional Paths Fill in the blanks: 1. Shankara was an advocate of. Answer: Advaita 2. Ramanuja was influenced by the. Answer: Alvars 3., and were advocates of Virashaivism Answer: Basavanna, Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi 4. was an important centre of the Bhakti tradition in Maharashtra. Answer: Pandharpur
Match Columns Column I Column II (1) The Buddha (a) Namghar (2) Shankaradeva (b) Worship of Vishnu (3) Nizamuddin Auliya (c) Questioned social differnces (4) Nayanars (d) Sufi saint (5) Alvars (e) Worship of Shiva Answer: 1-c, 2-a, 3-d, 4-e, 5-b 1. Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis. Answer: They advocated renunciation of the world. According to them, the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality and the realization of oneness with it. For putting their ideas into practice, they suggested intense training of the mind and body through practices; like yogasanas, breathing exercises and mediation. 2. What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How did he express them? Answer: Ka ir s tea hi gs ere ased o ehe e t reje tio of ajor religious traditions and openly ridiculed all forms of external worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam, the pre-eminence of the priestly classes and the caste system. He believed in formless Supreme God and preached that bhakti or devotion was the only path to salvation. He expressed his ideas through vast collection of verses called sakhis and pads. These are said to have been composed by him and sung by wandering bhajan singers. His language in poetry was spoken Hindi that was widely understood but he sometimes also used cryptic language that was difficult to follow.
3. What were the major beliefs and practices of the Sufis? Answer: They rejected outward religiosity, elaborate rituals and codes of behavior demanded by Muslim religious scholars. They also, like the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis, believed that the heart can be trained to look at the world in a different way. They advocated devotion to God, union with God just like a lover seeks his beloved with a disregard for the world and compassion towards all fellow human beings Their practices were: Zikr(chanting of a name or sacred formula), Contemplation, Sama(singing), Raqs(dancing), Discussion of parables, Breath control, etc. 4. Why do you think many teachers rejected prevalent religious beliefs and practices? Answer: Because the existing beliefs and practices were very orthodox in nature. They also favoured the upper castes and looked down upon the lower castes. They were against the spirit of equality. 5. What were the major teachings of Baba Guru Nanak? Answer: He emphasized the importance of worshipping one God and also that for attaining liberation, caste, creed or gender was irrelevant. His idea of liberation was not that of a state of inert bliss but that of pursuit of active li8fe with a strong social commitment. The essence of his teachings used words like nam, dan and isnan which meant right worship, welfare of others and purity of conduct. His teachings are now remembered as nam-japna, kirt-karna and vand-chhakna. These also underline the importance of right belief and worship, honest living, and helping people. 6. For either the Virashaivas or the sants of Maharashtra, discuss their attitude towards caste. Answer: The Virashaivas strongly argued for equality of all human beings. They were against Brahmanical ideas about caste.
7. Why do you think ordinary people preserved the memory of Mirabai? Answer: Si e Mira ai s so gs ope l halle ged the e isti g or s of the upper astes, ordi ar people ould relate to the. He e the preser ed her memory. 8. Briefly describe the Sikh movement. Answer: The changes in the historical situation during the 16th and 17th centuries influenced the development of the Sikh movement. The Sikh movement began to get politicised in the 17th century, a development which culminated in the institution of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in the year 1699. The Khalsa Panth, a community of Sikhs, became a political entity. Briefly describe Shankaradeva. Answer: Shankaradeva was another contemporary of the period. He belonged to Assam and composed poems and plays in Assamese. He emphasized devotion to Lord Vishnu. He began the practice of setting up namgarhs or houses of recitations and prayers. This practice still continues. Write a note on Islam. Answer: Islam propagated strict monotheism which means submission to one God. It rejected idol worship and simplified rituals of worship considerably, into collective prayers. At the same time, Muslim scholars developed a holy law that was called Shariat.
Who was Mirabai? Answer: Mirabai was a Rajput princess married into a royal family of Mewar in the 16th century. She became the disciple of a saint named Ravidas who was considered untouchable. She was devoted to Krishna and expressed her devotion by composing many bhajans. Her songs ope l halle ged the e isti g or s of the upper astes. The also became very popular among the masses in Rajasthan and Gujarat. Write a note on Islam. Answer: Islam propagated strict monotheism which means submission to one God. It rejected idol worship and simplified rituals of worship considerably, into collective prayers. At the same time, Muslim scholars developed a holy law that was called Shariat. Describe Shankara and Ramanuja. Answer: Shankara was born in Kerala in the eighth century. He was one of the most influential philosophers of India and an advocate of Advaita. Advaita is the doctrine of oneness of the individual soul and the Supreme God which is the Ultimate Reality. He taught that the only or Ultimate Reality was the Brahman who was formless and without any attributes. He considered the world around us to be an illusion or, in other words, maya. He preached renunciation of the world and adoption of the path of knowledge to understand the true nature of Brahman and attain salvation. Ramanuja was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century. He was deeply influenced by the Alvars. He firmly believed that intense devotion to Vishnu was the best means to attain salvation. He propounded the doctrine of Vishishtadvaita which meant that the soul remained distinct even when united with the Supreme God.
Describe the religious developments in Maharashtra during the period. Answer: During the period between the 13th and 17th century Maharashtra saw a great number of saint-poets whose songs in simply Marathi still continue to inspire people. Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath and Tukaram were the most important saint-poets. Women like Sakhubai and the family of Chokhamela who belonged to the untouchable Mahar caste were also very prominent figures in this field during the period. This regional tradition of bhakti focused on Vitthala (Vitthala is a form of Vishnu) temple in Pandharpur and also on the notion of a personal god residing in the hearts of all people. These saint poets insisted that bhakti lay in sharing others pai. The reje ted: ritualis, out ard display of piety, social differences based on birth and idea of renunciation. Describe the kind of Bhakti that existed in South India. Answer: A new kind of bhakti evolved in South India in the seventh to ninth century, comprising of the emergence of new religious movements which were led by Nayanars and Alvars. Nayanars were saints devoted to Shiva and Alvars were saints devoted to Vishnu. They belonged to all castes, including the ones who were considered untouchable like the Pulaiyar and Panars. They were highly critical of the Buddhists and Jainas and preached the ardent love of Shiva or Vishnu as the path to salvation. They preached the ideas of love and heroism found in the Sangam literature and blended them with the values of bhakti. Sangam literature is the earliest example of Tamil literature, composed during the early centuries of the Common Era.