The President of India recently addressed the ‘Shri Guru Ravidas Vishva Mahapeeth Rashtriya Adhiveshan-2021’ in New Delhi.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:

Q.Consider the following statements:

1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.

2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Who was Sant Ravidas?

• Ravidas was an Indian mystic poet-saint of the Bhakti movement and founder of the Ravidassia religion during the 15th to 16th century CE.
• Venerated as a guru (teacher) in the region of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and mainly Punjab and Haryana. He was a poet-saint, social reformer and spiritual figure.
• The life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. Scholars believe he was born in 1450 CE, in the cobbler caste.
• Ravidas’s devotional Verses were included in the Sikh scriptures known as Guru Granth Sahib.
• The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas.
• He taught the removal of social divisions of caste and gender and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms.

Why his preaching is important?

• Philosophy and values of Sant Ravidas like social justice, equality and fraternity have been imbued in our constitutional values.
• He had envisaged a society that is based on equality and free from any kind of discrimination.
• He gave it the name ‘Be-gampura’ (a city near Lahore) where there is no place for any kind of grief or fear.
• Such an ideal city would be bereft of fear, vulnerability or scarcity. Rule of law based on the right ideas like equality and welfare of all would be the principle for governance.

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