Ramanandi Sampradaya Encyclopedia,
IAST Rāmānandī, also known as IAST Rāmāvat, is the largest sect of Vaishnavism, with 36 of the 52 gates of Vaishnavism held by Ramanandas. They primarily emphasize the worship of Rama, Sita, and Hanuman, as well as Vishnu directly and his other incarnations. *Caste* People of this sect are known as Vaishnavites in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan. In the early 20th century, this sect declared itself a descendant of Kusha and Rava, the sons of Rama. *Denomination* The Ramanandi Sampradaya is one of the largest and most egalitarian Hindu sects in India, around the Gangetic plains, and today in Nepal. It primarily emphasizes the worship of Rama as well as Lord Vishnu and other incarnations. Ramanandi ascetics rely on meditation and rigorous penance, but also believe that divine grace is necessary to achieve moksha. Therefore, the tyaga branch of Ramanandi practitioners does not cut the sacred thread, unlike some Shaiva practitioners. Their reason for this is that only Vishnu or Rama can give liberation. Most Ramanandis consider themselves followers of Ramananda, a Vaishnava saint from medieval India. Philosophically, they follow the tradition of Bhagavat Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita (IAST Vishishtadvaita). Its ascetic branch constitutes the largest Vaishnava order, and may possibly be the largest in all of India. There are two main subgroups of Ramanandi's practitioners. One is the Tyagi tribe, who use ashes for initiation, and the other is the extremist Naga tribe. *History* The Bhaktamal is a huge hagiographical work about Hindu saints and devotees written by Raghavadas in 1660 and was a central text for all Vaishnavism, including Ramanandi. In this document, Ramanuja and Ramananda, preachers of the Vishishtadvaita school of Vedanta, are listed as saints of the Ramanuja Sampradaya, but the Gartha Peeth of the Ramanandi Vaishnava states that Ramanuja Vaishnava was the Kumbh. -This is ruled out by prohibiting taking Shahi Sunan in the Mela. Many of Bhaktamal's regional commentaries were taught to young Vaishnavas throughout India. In the 19th century, the spread of the printing press in the Gangetic plains of northern India led to the widespread distribution of various annotations of texts. Of these, Bhagavan Prasad's Sri Bhaktamal: Tika, Tilak, Aur Nanvari Sahit was considered the most authoritative. In this document, Bhagwan Prasad enumerates his 108 eminent Vaishnavas starting from Ramanuja and ending with Ramananda. Ramananda's guru, Raghavananda, is described as an egalitarian guru who taught students of all castes. Ramananda himself is described as an incarnation of Rama, a humble student with great yogic talent who was asked to form his own sampradaya as punishment from his master. The text identifies his birth as Prayag, BC. 1300 AD Farquhar, a prominent missionary and Indologist, published his own work on Ramanandi's Sampradaya, based on his interactions with various Ramanandis at his Mela in the Kumbh of 1918. Farquhar believes that Ramananda (c. 1400-1470 AD) and his followers are of northern origin. The Indian custom of using Ram to refer to the Absolute. Based on textual evidence and similarities between Ramananda's and Sri Vaishnava's sectarian marks, Farquhar concludes that Ramananda migrated to Benares from Tamil Nadu. He admits that Ramananda accepted disciples of all castes and did not observe any food restrictions. However, Dr. Farquhar finds no evidence that Ramananda made any effort to "overturn caste as a social institution." On the other hand, Sita Ram, author of the Vaishnava History of Ayodhya, and George Grierson, a prominent linguist and Indologist, consider Ramananda a saint who sought to transcend caste divisions in medieval India through his message of love and equality. represents. Scholars also differ on the relationship between Ramananda and Ramanuja. Sita Ram and Grierson place Ramananda within the Ramanuja tradition, although Farquhar believes they are completely unrelated. Until the 19th century, many of the trade routes in northern India were guarded by groups of monks, including the Nagar branch of the Ramanandi family. They were feared because of their strength and fearlessness. Although Britain took steps to disarm these radical groups, the sect retains its heroic traditions today. *Geography* Ramanandis live mainly in northern India. Ramanandi monasteries are scattered throughout northern, western and central India, the Ganges Valley, the Terai of Nepal, and the foothills of the Himalayas. Ramanandi is spread throughout India, mainly in Jammu, Punjab, Himachal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Assam, and West Bengal. The majority of Hindu immigrants to Trinidad and Tobago, and a significant proportion of Hindus in the United Kingdom, belong to the Vaishnava sect, such as Ramanandi. Ramanandi has had a great influence on the Sanatani (Orthodox) sect, the mainstream Hindu religion in Trinidad and Tobago. *Saints* Saint Danna and Saint Pipa were among Ramananda's direct disciples. The hymns written by them are listed in the Adi Granth, the holy book of Sikhism. The sect founded by sages Raidas, Sena and Mulk Das is also a direct descendant of Ramanandi, and the poet and sage Tulsidas, who composed the Ramcharitmana, was also a member of this sect. His works gave mutual devotion to Vishnu and Shiva, thereby bridging the gap between Vaishnavites and Shaivites. Because Tulsidas tried to reconcile various theologies, scholars such as Ramchandra Shukla disagree that he can be considered exclusively a Ramanandi. According to some sources, Jayadeva, who compiled the Gita Govinda, was also a member of this sect. Other sources classify Jayadeva simply as a Bengali Vaishnava. Kabir was also a disciple of Ramananda and part of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, and Kabir also founded another sect, now known as Kabirpanti. Another bhakti saint, Ravidas, was also a disciple of Ramananda. Ramanandi He followed the Sampradaya and also founded the Ravidasia sect. Published in Braj in 1585, it contains short biographies of over 200 bhaktas. It was written by Nava Das, a saint who belongs to the Ramananda tradition. This famous Vaishnav text Bhaktamal also mentions the piety of Ramanandi sage Sri Bhagwanji and the miraculous powers of his disciple Sri Narinji. Pandori Dam in Gurdaspur, Punjab. KR IRS 19124 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CAL5XZooycV-yJUVG04dsamadZ7gLHk-DH5fCPQt851MAiN_%3DsQ%40mail.gmail.com.
