Chapter-8 Devotional Paths to the Divine

Explanation:

• The Buddha attributed the existence of dukkha to current societal conditions and human behaviour rather than any divine force.

• While Sankaradeva was young, he created the Namghar institution in Bordoa, which was formerly known as Hari griha. Assam presently has a Namghar in every village where the teachings of Hari are recited and listened to at predetermined intervals.

• Nizamuddin was a Chishti Order Sufi saint and a scholar of Sunni Islam. Nizamuddin Auliya emphasised love as a method of realising God, much like the majority of the Chishti Sufi saints. He thought that the love of God required a love for others.

• ⦁ The Nayanars were 63 Tamil Hindu saints who served the Hindu deity Shiva and lived in the sixth through eighth century AD.

• The Bhakti Movement was sparked by the Alvars' chants of adoration to Vishnu and his incarnations. They lauded the 108 Vaishnavite deities' Divya Desams, or celestial domains.

Explanation:

(a) Shankara was an advocate of Advaita.

Advaita, a school of thought championed by Shankara, maintains that the atman and the Brahman are one and the same. As a result, the Absolute God and each individual soul are one. Yet the general populace was unable to comprehend or adhere to his beliefs because they were too abstract and difficult.

(b) Ramanuja was influenced by the Alvars.

The Alvars had a significant impact on Ramanuja, who was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century. He believed that fervent devotion to Vishnu was the finest way to get salvation. With His mercy, Vishnu aids the devotee in achieving the joy of connection with Him. The soul remained separate even when it was merged with the Absolute God, according to the Vishishtadvaita theology he advanced. The succeeding new strand of bhakti that emerged in North India was profoundly influenced by Ramanuja's theory.

(c) Basavanna, Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi were advocates of Virashaivism.

In order to promote the equality of all people, Basavanna and his associates, including Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi, started the Virashaivism movement in Karnataka in the middle of the twelfth century.

(d) Vitthala temple was an important centre of the Bhakti tradition in Maharashtra.

The Vithoba Temple, sometimes referred to as Shri Vitthal-Rukmini Mandir, is a Hindu temple located in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, India. It serves as the primary place of worship for the couple Vithoba and Rakhumai, who represent the divinity Vishnu or Krishna.

Explanation:

The bulk of the new religious movements at this time attacked rituals, established religion, and the social order using simple logic. These included the Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas, and Yogis; they encouraged renunciation of the world. They believed that the secret to salvation was meditation. Hence they advocated intense physical and mental training using methods like yoga postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. The popularity of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas, and Yogis among the "lower" castes and their criticism of conventional religion led to the development of devotional religion in Northern India.

Explanation:

One of the most well-known saints, Kabir, is said to have lived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The main religious traditions were fully, even passionately, rejected by him as the basis for his ideas. Muslim and Hindu followers of Kabir were attracted to him. He believed that there was an ill-defined Absolute God and that the only way to redemption was via bhakti, or devotion. His teachings publicly criticised both Islam and Brahmanical Hinduism's ostentatious displays of devotion.He also made fun of the caste structure and the dominance of the priestly castes. His poetry was written in a popular Hindi vernacular that was easy to grasp. He occasionally spoke in a language that was difficult to understand. His thoughts are outlined in a lengthy collection of poetry named "sakhis and pads," which was written by him and sung by travelling bhajan singers. Several of these were subsequently gathered and preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib, Panch Vani, and Bijak..

Explanation:

Muslim mystics known as the Sufis emphasised compassion for all people and love and devotion to God over external religion. The Sufis frequently disregarded the complex rituals and moral rules set by Muslim religious authorities. With the same disdain for the outside world as a lover would, they desired union with God.The Sufis wrote poetry to convey their emotions and produced a wealth of prose literature. Around them,There were generated stories and anecdotes. They developed complex training methods using 'Zikr' (chanting of a name or sacred phrase), introspection, sama (singing), raqs (dancing), discussion of parables, breath control, etc. under the guidance of a teacher or Pir. It led to the creation of the "Silsilas," each of which had a unique teaching methodology and ceremonial presentation style.

Explanation:

Because these beliefs promoted societal divisions where the lower castes were subjugated by the upper castes, many professors questioned the popular religious ideas and practises. They were drawn to the notion of a Supreme God, believed in the efficacy of individual devotion, and held that bhakti, or devotion, was the only route to salvation.

Explanation:

Baba Guru Nanak was born in Talwandi (Nankana Sahib), Pakistan, between 1469 and 1539. He constructed a site of daily devotion that incorporated the singing of his own songs in Kartarpur, the location of Dera Baba Nanak. His pupils all ate in the common kitchen, regardless of their prior religion, caste, or gender (langar). The holy site that Baba Guru Nanak had created was given the name Dharmsal. Nowadays, it goes by the name Gurdwara. Over the sixteenth century, Baba Guru Nanak's popularity flourished under his successors. The evolving historical conditions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had an impact on the Sikh movement.Baba Guru Nanak's ideas had a big impact on its development from the beginning. He emphasised the importance of following one God. He emphasised that obtaining liberty was not dependent on one's gender, caste, or faith. Instead of a passive state of delight, his idea of freedom was the pursuit of an active life with a strong sense of social participation. He used the terms "nam," "dan," and "isnan" to allude to the essence of his teaching, which respectively represented sincere devotion, other people's well-being, and moral purity. His doctrines, referred to as Nam-Japna, Kirt-Karna, and Vandh-Chhakna, also place a strong emphasis on the need of righteous belief and worship, honesty in day-to-day conduct, and charitable giving. Hence, the idea of equality held by Baba Guru Nanak has social and political implications.

Explanation:

The Virashaivas argued vehemently for universal equality and challenged Brahmanical notions of caste and how women were to be treated. They were also against idolatry and all forms of ceremonial. Throughout the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, Maharashtra produced a great number of saint poets who were against all ritualism, outward demonstrations of piety, and social differences based on birth. Others even argued against the idea of renunciation and preferred to stay with their family, earning a living by kindly aiding people in need and retaining the belief that bhakti can only be discovered by sharing in another person's pain.