THE SUFI MOVEMENT

THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT

&
IMPORTANCE OF SUFI & BHAKTI MOVEMENT

UNIT-3
KNC-602

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The Sufi Movement Background-Rise of Islam

Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad. Islam saw the rise of many
religious and spiritual movements within it. These movements were centered
mainly around the interpretation of the Quran.

There were two major sects that arose within Islam- the Sunnis and
Shias. Our country has both the sects, but in many other countries like Iran,
Iraq, Pakistan etc. The greatest challenge to orthodox Sunnism came from the
rationalist philosophy or Mutazilas, who professed strict monotheism.

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THE SUFIS

Contrary to the ulena were the Sufis. The Sufis were mystics. They were
pious men who were shocked at the degeneration in political and religious life.

The Sufi philosophy also differed from the ulena. The Sufis laid
emphasis upon free thought and liberal ideas. They were against formal
worship, rigidity and fanaticism in religion. The Sufis turned to meditation in
order to achieve religious satisfaction. Like the Bhakti saints, the Sufis too
interpreted religious as ‘love of god’ and service of humanity.

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SUFISM IN INDIA
The advent of Sufism in India is said to be in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. One of the early Sufis of eminence, who settled in
India, was AL-Hujwari who died in 1089, popularly known as Data
Ganj Baksh.

The Sufis came to India vis Afghanistan on their own free

will. Their emphasis upon a pure life, devotional love and service to
humanity made them popular and earned them a place of honour in
Indian society.

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THE CHISHTI SILSILAH
The Chishti Silsilah was founded in a village called Khawaja
Chishti. In India, the Chishti Silsilah was founded by Khawaja Moinuddin
Chishti who came to India around 1192.

He made Ajmer the main centre for his teaching. He believed that
serving mankind was the best form of devotion and therefore he worked
amongst the downtrodden. He died in Ajmer in 1236.

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THE SUHRAWARDI SILSILAH

This Silsilah was founded by Sheikh Shahabuddin Suhrawardi. It

was established in India by Sheikh Bahauddin Zakariya.

He set up a leading khanqah in Multan, which was visited by rulers,

high government officials and rich merchants.

The Suhrawardi Silsilah was firmly established in Punjab and Sind.

Besides these two Silsilah there were others such as the Firdawsi Silsilah,
Shattari Silsilah, Qadiri Silsilah, Naqshbandi Silsilah.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BHAKTI AND SUFI MOVEMENTS AND
PHILOSOPHY IN MEDIEVAL INDIA

The development of Bhakti movement took place in Tamil Nadu

between the seventh and twelfth centuries. It was reflected in the emotional
poems of the Nayanars and Alvars. These saints looked upon religion not as a
cold formal worship but as a loving bond based upon love between the
worshipped and worshipper.

In course of time, the ideas of the south moved up to the North but it was
a very slow process. Sanskrit, which was still the vehicle of thought, was given
a new form.

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 Thus we find that the Bhagavata Purana of ninth century was not
written in the old Puranic form. It centered around Krishna’s childhood and
youth, this work uses Krishna’s exploits to explain deep philosophy in simple
terms.

This work became a turning point in the history of the Vaishnavite

movement which was an important component of the Bhakti movement.

During this period, another movement based upon devotion towards a

sakar form of God had also developed this movement, called the Vaishnavite
movement.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BHAKTI AND SUFI MOVEMENTS

• Bhakti movement was a socio-religious movement that opposed religious

bigotry and social rigidities.
• It emphasized good character and pure thinking. At a time when society had
become
stagnant, the Bhakti saints infused new life and strength.
• The importance of the Bhakti and Sufi saints lies in the new atmosphere
created by them, which continued to affect the social, religious and political
life of India even in later centuries.
• The popular verses and songs of the Bhakti saints also served as forerunners
of a musical renaissance.
• New musical compositions were written for the purpose of group singing at
kirtans. Even today Mira’s bhajans and Tulsidas’s chaupais are recited at a
prayer meeting.
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PHILOSOPHY IN MEDIEVAL INDIA

•The major religious movements were brought about by the mystics. They
contributed to the religious ideas and beliefs.

•Bhakti saints like Vallabh Acharya, Ramanuja, Nimbaraka brought about

new philosophical thinking which had its origin in Shankaracharya’s
Advaita philosophy.

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VALLABHACHARYA

Vallabhacharya was a devotional philosopher, scholar and preacher,

who founded the Pushti sect in India. He was an ardent devotee of Lord
Krishna, belong to Telugu Brahmin family and was born in 1479 AD in the
holy city of Banaras. He wrote many commentaries on the Bhagavata Purana
that describes the many lilas (pastimes) of the Avatar, Krishna.

Vallabhacharya is one of the five main Acharyas of the Bhakti tradition

of Hinduism. (The other four being Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya,
Madhavacharya and Shri Nimbarkacharya.) He propagated the philosophy of
Shuddhadvaita which forms the basis of Pushtimarg devotional practice.

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 These acharyas have made significant contribution to the bhakti
movement and led to the medieval rise in popularity of the Hindu Religion.
The devotional movement is based on the idea that love of God should be
seen as an end in itself, not as a means to something else

He was a Telugu philosopher who founded the Pushti sect of Vaishnavism.

It was a Krishna-centric cult in the Braj region of India.
He propounded Shuddha Advaita (pure non-dualism).
He wrote commentaries on Vedanta Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita.
He said that Krishna was Brahman and that the soul and God are one and the
same.

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RAMANUJACHARYA
Ramanujacharya is also known as Ramanuja. He was born in 11th
century around 1017 in a Tamil Brahmin family in Sriperumbudur village of
Tamil Nadu. His birth name was Lakshmana and was also referred as Ilaya
Perumal that is 'the radiant one'. His legacy as a theologian, teacher and
philosopher remains alive. Do you know he is one of the greatest teachers of
Vishishtadvaita Vedanta which is one of the six classical systems of Indian
philosophy?

The northern and southern tradition of Vaishnavism was combined by him

and he also strengthened the religious belief and the worship of Lord Vishnu.
He taught people that Divine entails rather than transcends all qualities. At
the age of 120, he left the world in 1137 CE in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu.

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 Ramanujacharya's birthplace is now commemorated by a temple in
Sriperumbudur and also in an active Vishishtadvaita school. His religious
practices and the doctrines that he had promulgated are also carried in two most
important Vaishnava centres: the Ranganatha temple in Shrirangam, Tamil
Nadu and the Venkateshvara temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh in South India.

So, we can say that Ramanujacharya was the greatest synoptic thinker
who had systematised the Visishtadvaitic philosophy and faithfully interpret the
ancient knowledge with several texts, letters. His teachings and philosophy are
still practiced in southern India.

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NIMBARKA
Nimbarka has been identified with Bhaskara, a 9th- or 10th-
century philosopher and celebrated commentator on the Brahma-sutras
(Vedanta-sutras). Most historians of Hindu mysticism, however, hold
that Nimbarka probably lived in the 12th or 13th century.

The Nimbarka sect flourished in the 13th and 14th centuries in

eastern India. Its philosophy held that men were trapped in physical
bodies constricted by prakrti (matter) and that only by surrender to
Radha-Krishna (not through their own efforts) could they attain the
grace necessary for liberation from rebirth; then, at death, the
physical body would drop away. Thus Nimbarka stressed bhakti
yoga, the yoga of devotion and faith.

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 Many books were written about this once-popular cult, but most
sources were destroyed by Muslims during the reign of the Mughal emperor
Aurangzeb (1659–1707), and thus little information has survived about
Nimbarka and his followers.

He propounded Dvaitadvaita (dualistic monism).

The sect of Nimbarka flourished in east India in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Nimbarka was born in south India. The exact time period of his birth is not
clear.
He emphasized on Radha Krishna worship as the means to attain liberation.
He stressed on Bhakti Yoga.
Said that the soul and the world are different from God but dependent on God.

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END….
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