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Chaitanya
In the Bengali Brahanam, Saint Chaitanya was great Vaishnava. In the 14th
century, the cult bhakti was very popular. He was born in 1485 in a learned

family of Nadia in Bengal. At an early age of 24, he renounced the world and
spent the rest of life in preaching his message of love and devotion.
Chaitanya
sankaRadeva

He was an influential Bhakti saint of Assam. He was an ardent devotee of Lord
Vishnu. He composed many poems and plays in Assamese. He established
Namghars. These were the houses where people gathered for religious
discussions, recitation, collective prayer and other social functions. This
Sankaradeva practice still continues.

miRabai (1499-1547)

Mirabai holds a very high position among the Vaishnava saints. Though she
was a princess of the royal dynasty of Jodhpur and the queen of the renowned

Sisodia dynasty of Chittor. She renounced the world for the sake of her
Bhakti to Lord Krishna. She composed many bhajans in the Rajasthani and
Braj languages. She became a follower of Ravidas— a saint from untouchable
caste. She participated sincerely in the Bhakti movement. In her songs, she Mirabai
strongly criticised the upper caste norms.

kabiR (1440-1518)

Kabir was brought up in a family of Muslim Julahas or weavers settled in or near the city of
Banaras (Varanasi). We got information about him from a collection of verses
called sakhis and pads composed by him and sung by bhajan singers. He
believed in self-surrender and god’s bhakti. He condemned major religious
traditions. He refused to accept the superiority of the Brahmanas as a caste.
His teachings had a profound influence on the masses. His followers were

both Hindus and Muslims. The language of his poetry was a form of spoken
Kabir Hindi widely understood by ordinary people.

Philosophy : Kabir believed in a formless supreme God and preached that the only path to
salvation was through bhakti or devotion. Kabir drew his followers from among both Hindus
and Muslims. Some of his compositions were later collected and preserved in the Guru
Granth Sahib, Panch Vani and Bijak.
case sTudy

the sufi movement
Sufi philosophy was basically Islamic, but was influenced by Hindu, Greek and Buddhist
religious ideas. It rejected the strict code of social conduct enforced by the ulema. It also
included new religious practices such as penance.

78 Social Studies-7