Ramanandi Sampradaya (Redirected from Ramanandi)

Ramanandi Sampradaya
Rare portrait of a Ramanandi ascetic worshipping Sita Rama in India, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, first half off the 19th century
Founder
Swami Ramanand
Regions with significant populations
IndiaNepalTrinidad and TobagoUnited Kingdom
Religions
Hinduism

The Ramanandi (IAST Rāmānandī), also known as Ramavats (IAST Rāmāvat), Ramananda sect is the largest sect of Vaishnavas, out of 52 gates of Vaishnavism, 36 are held by Ramanandi's. They mainly emphasize the worship of Rāma, Sita, and Hanuman, as well as Vishnu directly and also his other avatars.

Lineage of Ramanandi Sampradaya

The Lineage of Ramanandi Sampradaya starts from Rama, The lineage said by Anantanandacharya to Krishnadas Payahari is:

परधाम्नि स्थितो रामःपुण्डरीकायतेक्षणः ।
सेवया परया जुष्टो जानक्यै तारकं ददौ ॥१॥
श्रियः श्रीरपि लोकानां दुखोद्धरणहेतवे ।
हनूमते ददौ मन्त्रं सदा रामाङ्घ्रिसेविने ॥२॥
ततस्तु ब्रह्मणा प्राप्तो मुह्यमानेन मायया।
कल्पान्तरे तु रामो वै ब्रह्मणे दत्तवानिमम्॥३॥
मन्त्रराजजपं कृत्वा धाता निर्मातृतां गतः।
त्रयीसारमिमं धातुर्वशिष्ठो लब्धवान् परम्॥४॥
पराशरो वशिष्ठाच्च सर्वसंस्कारसंयुतम् ।
मन्त्रराजं परं लब्ध्वा कृतकृत्यो बभूव ह।।५॥
पराशरस्य सत्पुत्रो व्यासः सत्यवतीसुतः ।
पितुः षडक्षरं लब्ध्वा चक्रे वेदोपबृंहणम्॥६॥
व्यासोपि बहुशिष्येषु मन्वानः शुभयोग्यताम् ।
परमहंसवर्य्याय शुकदेवाय दत्तवान्॥७॥
शुकदेवकृपापात्रो बह्मचर्यव्रतेस्थितः ।
नरोत्तमस्तु तच्छिष्यो निर्वाणपदवीं गतः ॥८॥
स चापि परमाचार्यो गङ्गाधराय सूरये।
मन्त्राणां परमं तत्त्वं राममन्त्रं प्रदत्तवान् ॥९॥
गङ्गाधरात् सदाचार्यस्ततो रामेश्वरो यतिः।
द्वारानन्दस्ततो लब्ध्वा परब्रह्मरतोऽभवत्॥१०॥
देवानन्दस्तु तच्छिष्यः श्यामानन्दस्ततोऽग्रहीत् ।
तत्सेवया श्रुतानन्दश्चिदानन्दस्ततोऽभवत् ॥११॥
पूर्णानन्दस्ततो लब्ध्वा श्रियानन्दाय दत्तवान्।
हर्यानन्दो महायोगी श्रियानन्दांघ्रिसेवकः ॥१२॥
हर्यानन्दस्य शिष्यो हि राघवानन्ददेशिकः ।
यस्य वै शिष्यतां प्राप्तो रामानन्दः स्वयं हरि ॥१३॥

Sequence of the Lineage of Ramanandi Sampradaya -

01. Rāma

02. Sītā

03. Hanumāna

04. Brahmā

05. Vaśiṣṭha

06. Parāśara

07. Vyāsa

08. Śukadēva Muni

09. Mahaṛṣi Bōdhāyana (Śrī Puruṣōttamācārya) (Pauṣa Kṛṣṇa 12, Vikrama Saṃvat Pūrva 569-320)

10. Gangādharācārya (Māgha Kṛṣṇa 11, Vi.Pū. 479-289)

11. Sadānandācārya (Māgha Śukla 5, Vi.Pū. 337-80)

12. Rāmēśvarānandācārya (Vaiśākha Śukla 3, Vi.Pū. 136-236)

13. Dvārānandācārya (Phālguna 15, Vikrama Saṃvat 196-376)

14. Dēvānandācārya (Vaiśākha Śukla 10, Vi.Saṃ. 326-526)

15. Śyāmānandācārya (Āśvina Śukla 2, Vi.Saṃ. 486-686)

16. Śrutānandācārya (Śrāvaṇa Śukla 7, Vi.Saṃ. 636-836)

17. Cidānandācārya (Caitra Pūrṇimā, Vi.Saṃ. 746-896)

18. Pūrṇānandācārya (Vaiśākha Kṛṣṇa 13, Vi.Saṃ. 866-1067)

19. Śriyānandācārya (Vaiśākha Śukla 9, Vi.Saṃ. 1026-1206)

20. Haryānandācārya (Āśvina Śukla 11, Vi.Saṃ. 1156-1256)

21. Rāghavānandācārya (Caitra Śukla 11, Vi.Saṃ. 1206-1396)

22. Rāmānandācārya (Māgha Kṛṣṇa 7, Vi.Saṃ. 1256-1532)

Caste

People of this sect are known as Vaishnavite in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. At the beginning of the 20th century, this sect declared to be the descendants of Rāma's sons, Kusha and Lava.

Denomination

Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana cooking and eating in the Wilderness (picture).

The Ramanandi Sampradaya is one of the largest and most egalitarian Hindu sects India, around the Gangetic Plain, and Nepal today. It mainly emphasizes the worship of Rāma, as well as Vishnu directly and other incarnations. Rāmānandī ascetics rely upon meditation and strict ascetic practices, but also believe that the grace of god is required for them to achieve liberation. For that reason, the Tyāga section of the Rāmānandī ascetics, unlike some Śaiva ascetics, do not cut the sacred thread. Their reasoning for this is that only Viṣṇu or Rāma can grant liberation.

Most Ramanandis consider themselves to be the followers of Ramananda, a Vaishnava saint in medieval India. Philosophically, they follow Vishishtadvaita (IAST Viśiṣṭādvaita) tradition of Bhaghavat Ramanuja.

Its ascetic wing constitutes the largest Vaishnava monastic order and may possibly be the largest monastic order in all of India. There are two major subgroups of Ramanandi ascetics: the Tyagi, who use ash for initiation, and the Naga, who are the militant wing.

History

Bhaktamal, a gigantic hagiographic work on Hindu saints and devotees written by Raghavadas in 1660, was a core text for all Vaishnavas including Ramanandis. This text lists Ramanuja, expounder of Vishishtadvaita school of Vedanta, and Ramananda as saints of the Ramanuja Sampradaya but Galta peeth of Ramanandi Vaishnavas have ruled out this by prohibiting Ramanuja Vaishnavas from taking Shahi snan in Kumbh Mela. Many localized commentaries of Bhaktakamal were taught to young Vaishnavas across India. In the 19th century, proliferation of the printing press in the Gangetic plains of North India allowed various commentaries of the text to be widely distributed. Of these, Bhagavan Prasad's Shri Bhaktamal: Tika, Tilak, aur Namvali Sahit was considered to be the most authoritative. In this text, Bhagvan Prasad lists 108 prominent Vaishnavas starting with 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 avatar of Rama, a humble student with great yogic talents who was asked to form his own sampradaya as a punishment by his guru. The text located his birth in Prayag in c. 1300 CE.

J.N. Farquhar, a noted missionary and indologist, published his own work on the Ramanandi Sampradaya based on his interaction with various Ramanandis at the Kumbh Mela of 1918. Farquhar credits Ramananda (c. 1400–1470 CE) and his followers as the origin of the North Indian practice of using Ram to refer to the Absolute. Based on the textual evidence and similarity of sect marks between Ramanandis and Sri Vaishnavas, Farquhar concludes that Ramananda migrated to Benares from Tamil Nadu. He acknowledges that Ramananda accepted disciples from all castes and did not observe the restrictions in matters of food. However, Farquhar finds no evidence to show that Ramananda endeavoured to "overturn caste as a social institution". On the other hand, Sita Ram, author of the Vaishnava history of Ayodhya, and George Grierson, eminent linguist and Indologist, represent Ramananda as saint who tried to transcend caste divisions of medieval India through the message of love and equality. The scholars also disagree on Ramananda's connection with Ramanuja. While Farquhar finds them completely unconnected, Sita Ram and Grierson place Ramananda within the Ramanuja tradition.

Up to the nineteenth century, many of the trade routes in northern India were guarded by groups of warrior-ascetics, including the Nāgā sections of the Rāmānandīs, who were feared because of their strength and fearlessness. The British took steps to disarm these militant groups of ascetics, but even today the sects still retain their heroic traditions.

Geography

Ramanandi live chiefly in the northern part of India. Ramanandi monasteries are found throughout northern, western and central India, the Ganges basin, the Nepalese Terai, and the Himalayan foothills. Ramanandis are spread across India, mainly in Jammu, Punjab, Himachal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Assam and West Bengal. The majority of Hindu immigrants to Trinidad and Tobago as well as substantial section of Hindus in United Kingdom of Great Britain belong to Vaishnava sects such as the Ramanandi. Ramanandi has had a major influence on the mainstream Sanatani (orthodox) sect of Hinduism in Trinidad and Tobago.

Saints

Saints Dhanna and Pipa were among the immediate disciples of Ramananda. Hymns written by them find mention in the Adi Granth, holy scripture of the Sikhs. Sects founded by saints Raidas, Sena and Maluk Das are also of a direct Ramanandi origin.

The poet-saint Tulsidas, who composed the Ramcharitmanas, was a member of this sect. His writings made Vishnu and Shiva devotees of each other and thereby bridged the gap between Vaishnavas and Shaivites. Because Tulsidas attempted to reconcile various theologies scholars like Ramchandra Shukla do not agree that he can considered to be a Ramanandi exclusively.

Some sources say Jayadeva, who composed the Gita Govinda, was also a member of this sect. Other sources classify Jayadeva simply as a Bengal Vaishnava.

Kabir was also disciple of Ramananda and part of Ramanandi Sampradaya, Kabir also founded a separate sect that is now known as the Kabirpanthi.

Another bhakti saint, Ravidas, who was also a disciple of Ramananda, followed Ramanandi Sampradaya and also founded the Ravidassia sect.

Bhaktamal, a poem written c. 1585 in Braj language, gives short biographies of more than 200 bhaktas. It was written by Nabha Dass, a saint belonging to the tradition of Ramananda.This celebrated Vaishnav text Bhaktamal also mentions about peity of Ramanandi saint Shri Bhagwanji and miraculous powers of his disciple Shri Narainji, who founded the Ramanandi Vaishnav temple named Thakurdwara Bhagwan Narainji in Pandori dham in Gurdaspur, Punjab.

Image gallery

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-27 21:15 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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