Ronki Ram (Dr.), Chairperson Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University (India) <ronkiram@yahoo.co.in
Guru Ravidass was probably the first one after Gautam Buddha who dared to revolt against the inhuman system of social exclusion and untouchability practiced for ages in India. However, what made him different was his method of revolt. He adopted Bhakti as a mode of expression of his social revolt. His Bhakti-based method was not only unique but also a befitting reply to the subtle mechanisations deployed by the Brahminical class to keep the downtrodden out of the mainstream. Bhakti was used to be considered a privilege reserved for the upper castes, especially the priests. Whereas, ex-untouchables were not allowed to practice Bhakti because they were condemned as polluted. It is in this context that that the adoption of Bhakti by Guru Ravidass as a method of social protest assumes special importance.
His Bhakti-based method of social revolt was neither violent nor tied with any conventional forms of prayers and petitions. In fact, it was a revolt with difference for an egalitarian social set up. It was both novel and daring. It was novel, because Guru Ravidass put emphasis on compassion for all and absolute faith in God. The principle of compassion for all reflected the egalitarian traits of his social philosophy and struggle. His concept of the absolute faith in the formless God showed the apathy of the elites of his times towards the plights of the downtrodden for whose emancipation he had to seek refuge in no one else but God. His method was daring in the sense that he chooses to imitate the Brahmins in order to symbolize his revolt which was not only highly objectionable but was equally deadly for an outcaste of his times. He challenged the tyranny of Brahmins and defied them by wearing Dhoti (cloth wrapped around the waist), Janeue (sacred thread) and Tilak (sacred red mark on forehead) that were forbidden for the untouchables. Though he attired himself like an upper caste, he did not hide his caste. He continued with his hereditary occupation of making/mending shoes. He, probably, tried to show that while adopting the prohibited dress and symbols of the upper castes, the lower castes could still keep their identity intact. Thus Guru Ravidass provided an alternative model for the emancipation of the Dalits much (six centuries) before the articulation of the concept of sanskritisation – a model of Dalit social mobility based on an emulation of the cultural world of upper castes.
What made the image of Guru Ravidass a catalyst in the emergence of Dalit consciousness was his being an outcaste and at the same time a saint of very high repute. The process of sanskritization facilitated the ambitious lower castes to improve ‘its position in the local caste hierarchy’ by pretending to look like the higher castes that enjoy ‘great prestige’ in the hierarchically organized Brahminical social order. Since the caste is given and cannot be changed, the lower castes were left with no option but to imitate the culture of the upper castes. What made the emancipation project of Guru Ravidass different from that of the sanskritization was his emphasis on acquiring social respect without crossing over the caste boundaries? He did not want to pretend to appear like an upper caste to ride the bandwagon of social prestige. On the contrary, he exhibited his protest against the social oppression by putting on the prohibited dress and symbols of the upper castes. By imitating the appearance of the upper castes he did not want the lower castes to abandon their caste to climb up the ladder of the caste hierarchy as in the process of sanskritization. The lower castes need not to be assimilated into the fold of higher castes. They had to, rather, assert for their human rights by challenging the caste hierarchy while being firm in their very caste group. He wanted to dismantle the norm of varnashram dharma (fourfold division of Hindu society based on graded rank system in caste hierarchy) by showing that lower castes were not beyond the pale of spiritual knowledge on the one hand and on the other that Brahmins were in fact “…hollow figures pumped up with false pride and hypocrisy”. In fact, he used caste to cut the steel frame of caste based social order – the only way of Dalit emancipation.
Guru Ravidass gave a new meaning to Bhakti by projecting it as a method of social protest against the centuries-old entrenched structures of Brahminical domination. He rejected all forms of religious rituals and sectarian formalities. He also commented graphically on the cursed and abject living conditions of millions of fellow downtrodden. Some scholars were of the opinion that though the devotional songs and hymns of Ravidass reflected the sufferings of the downtrodden, they lack the reformatory zeal and bitter condemnation of Brahminism and caste system that animated the poetry of Kabir and Tukaram. Though there is a difference in tone between the poetry of Kabir and Ravidass, both convey the same message. The poetry of Guru Ravidass is known to be full of humility and devotion. But at the same time it is equally imbibed with reformatory zeal and concern for the downtrodden. Instead of bluntly snubbing the arrogance of higher castes, he undertook to raise the dignity of his own caste and profession, so that the higher castes could come to realize the shallowness of their self-imposed superiority. He advocated self-help for eliminating sufferings of the Dalits. His vision for self-help is clearly reflected in one of the legends about his refusal to make use of a Paras (a mythical stone that turns iron into gold) to get rich. He lent purity and respect to kirat (manual work), which also found special mention in the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikh faith. In fact, Guru Ravidass’s life and poetry provided a vision to the downtrodden to struggle for their human rights and civic liberties.
The Bhakti approach of Guru Ravidass was a non-violent struggle for the emancipation and empowerment of the Shudras. Though he combined humility with Bhakti, his concept of formless God reflected an altogether different picture. Guru Ravidass’s God was not humble at all in the typical sense of the term. He was graceful. He was not indifferent to the downtrodden. His God was rather bold who was not afraid of anyone. He elevated and purified the so-called untouchables. Aaisee lal tujh binu kaunu karai. Gareeb niwaaju guseea meraa maathai chhatar dharai… neecho uooch karai meraa govind kaahoo te na darai. Guru Ravidass further said Meri jaati kut bandhlaa dhor dhouwanta nithi baanaarasi aas paasaa. Ab bipar pardhan tihi karih danduouti tere naam sarnaaie Ravidass daasaa. It is in this context that his non-violent struggle based on Bhakti assumed special importance for the emancipation of the Dalits. He did not only adopt non–violence in his struggle against the social oppression, but also motivated the oppressors to abandon the path of violence.
Guru Ravidass envisioned an egalitarian model of state for ensuring human rights and civil liberties for all alike. He called his ideal state as Begumpura (free from sorrows). In his ideal state no one would be discriminated against on the basis of caste and religion and everyone would be free from the burden of taxes and worries of food. His ideal state would be free from the graded system of caste hierarchy. There would be no segregated colonies for the downtrodden and they would be free to move around without caste prejudice. In other words, in Begumpura the evil of untouchability would cease to exist. Though Begumpura was an ideal state as visualized by Ravidass, it was not a mere figment of his mind. In fact, its articulation was based on in-depth understanding of the socio-economic and political conditions prevailing during his lifetime. He lived during the period when Shudras were doubly oppressed by their political masters along with the members of higher castes; and by the Brahmins, the custodians of Hindu religion.
He had no hope from any quarter regarding the improvement of the conditions of the downtrodden. In one of his hymns he thus articulated Dardu dekh sab ko hasai, aaisee dasaa hamaaree. Ast dasaa sidi kar talai, sab kirpa tumhari. In fact, his entire poetry echoed a loud protest against slavery on the one hand and boundless love and devotion to the formless God on the other. He believed that God created all human beings and resided in all of them. If the same God pervaded the entire humanity, then it is foolish to divide the society on the basis of caste. He thus condemned the division of mankind on the basis of caste. He said Jo ham shehri so meet hamara. It is in this context that the egalitarian social philosophy of Ravidass expressed in the mode of poetry became the manifesto of the Dalit consciousness in Punjab.
The establishment of a large number of Ravidass Deras by the Dalits in Punjab and in other parts of India over the last few years is a case in point. Guru Ravidass became very popular among the Punjabi Dalit diasporas as well, who have also constructed Ravidass shrines in order to assert their separate caste identity. The number of Ravidass Deras has been multiplying very fast. It has taken the form of a sort of a socio-cultural movement for the emancipation of the Dalits. It has generated a sense of confidence in them and provided them an opportunity to exhibit their hitherto eclipsed Dalit identity. The secret of the success of this movement lies in the strategy to combine Dr Ambedkar’s socio-cultural revolution with Bhakti approach of Guru Ravidass Dass. Ravidass Deras thrive on the elements of social protest expressed in the poetry of Guru Ravidass and the writings of Dr. Ambedkar. These Deras, in fact, have been functioning as missions to sensitive the Dalits and to facilitate their empowerment. In order to look different from the shrines of Hindu and Sikh religions, and to distinctly project their separate religious identity, Ravidass Deras have formulated their own religious symbols, ceremonies, prayers, rituals and messages of social protest against the oppressive structures of caste domination in the agrarian society of Punjab.
Posted on January 29, 2010