Rāmānanda in One Ideas
the essentialsDevotion for all
“Let no one ask a man’s caste or with whom he eats; if a man is devoted to Hari, he becomes Hari’s own.”
Rāmānanda (c. 14th–15th century; dates disputed) was a Vaiṣṇava saint and teacher of Vārāṇasī, revered as the founder of the Rāmānandī order of ascetics, devoted to Rāma and Sītā. Tradition says he came from the lineage of Rāmānuja in the South but broke with its caste rules, preaching devotion in Hindi rather than Sanskrit and accepting disciples of every caste and both sexes. A verse attributed to him says: “Let no one ask a man’s caste or with whom he eats; whoever is devoted to Hari becomes Hari’s own.” His legendary twelve disciples include the weaver Kabīr, the leather-worker Ravidās, the Rajput king Pīpā, the barber Sen, the Jāṭ farmer Dhannā and a woman, Padmāvatī — making him the spiritual ancestor of both the saguṇa Rāma-devotion of Tulsīdās and the nirguṇa devotion of Kabīr. Little reliable is known of his life; one hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib is attributed to him. The Rāmānandī order is today the largest Vaiṣṇava monastic order in India.
Curiosities
did you know?- The Rāmānandī order of ascetics, which he is credited with founding, is today the largest Vaiṣṇava monastic order in India.
Questions to Argue About
debate club →- Can a teacher of Brahmin orthodoxy found a movement against caste?
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