Social Context of Bhakti

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There are many reasons why Bhakti became prominent. And many players helped it in their own way. One reason was the impersonal God presented by Jainism and Buddhism. There was a need to feel a connection to a personal God. People felt alienated. The religious "mutt" establishments left people out. Caste system had its own oppression. Bhakti was a response to all this. Many kings and rulers played a role in patronising these. Women came into prominence as Bhakti saints.

Key Idea #1 Rebellion against existing caste hierarchies

 * How the social structure needed to be questioned
 * The role of Bhakti in this

Learning objectives

 * To sensitize children to the caste and other oppressions
 * To track the movements of social change
 * To understand new movements and communities - the rise and formation

Notes for teachers
The life of Basavanna An example of this would be the life of Basavanna (1106-68) who was initially a Jaina and a minister in the court of a Chalukya king. His followers were known as Virashaivas (heroes of Shiva) or Lingayats (wearers of the linga). Lingayats continue to be an important community in the region to date. They worship Shiva in his manifestation as a linga, and men usually wear a small linga in a silver case on a loop strung over the left shoulder. Those who are revered include the jangama or wandering monks. Lingayats believe that on death the devotee will be united with Shiva and will not return to this world. Therefore they do not practise funerary rites such as cremation, prescribed in the Dharmashastras. Instead, they ceremonially bury their dead. The Lingayats challenged the idea of caste and the “pollution” attributed to certain groups by Brahmanas. They also questioned the theory of rebirth. These won them followers amongst those who were marginalised within the Brahmanical social order. The Lingayats also encouraged certain practices disapproved in the Dharmashastras, such as post-puberty marriage and the remarriage of widows. Our understanding of the Virashaiva tradition is derived from vachanas (literally, sayings) composed in Kannada by women and men who joined the movement.

Activity No # 1
Using the example of basavanna, discuss how the Bhakti movement addressed the issue of caste Enact a scene from Basavanna's life.

(Use the below vachana in this role play)
 * Estimated Time 45 minutes - 2 periods
 * Materials/ Resources needed

The rich, Will make temples for Shiva. What shall I, A poor man, Do? My legs are pillars, The body the shrine, The head a cupola Of gold. Listen, O Lord of the meeting rivers, Things standing shall fall, But the moving ever shall stay. ?

Image Credit: Wikipedia
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources

This is a role play Questions for Discussion 1. What is the temple that Basavanna is offering to God? 2. Why do you think he is offering this kind of temple? 3. What do you think was happening around Basavanna for him to write such a poem?
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process
 * What questions can you ask


 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE
 * 1) Where have you seen caste problems in your village?
 * 2) Talk to your community and find out what facilities are used when, by whom and how?
 * 3) Was it always like this


 * Question Corner

Activity No #

 * Estimated Time
 * Materials/ Resources needed
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process
 * What questions can you ask
 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE
 * Question Corner

Key Idea #2 Women in Bhakti
Women played a prominent role. They had several restrictions.

Learning objectives

 * 1) To introduce children to the way gender played a role
 * 2) To understand the social conditions of women

Notes for teachers
Mirabai (c. fifteenth-sixteenth centuries) is perhaps the best-known woman poet within the bhakti tradition. Biographies have been reconstructed primarily from the bhajans attributed to her, which were transmitted orally for centuries. According to these, she was a Rajput princess from Merta in Marwar who was married against her wishes to a prince of the Sisodia clan of Mewar, Rajasthan. She defied her husband and did not submit to the traditional role of wife and mother, instead recognising Krishna, the avatar of Vishnu, as her lover. Her in-laws tried to poison her, but she escaped from the palace to live as a wandering singer composing songs that are characterised by intense expressions of emotion. According to some traditions, her preceptor was Raidas, a leather worker. This would indicate her defiance of the norms of caste society. After rejecting the comforts of her husband’s palace, she is supposed to have donned the white robes of a widow or the saffron robe of the renouncer. Although Mirabai did not attract a sect or group of followers, she has been recognised as a source of inspiration for centuries. Her songs continue to be sung by women and men, especially those who are poor and considered “low caste” in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Activity No # 1
Story and discussion
 * Estimated Time
 * Materials/ Resources needed
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources

Narrate the below case study of the dalit woman singing Meera bai bhajans in the bus :
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process

“Nagpur, in Maharashtra, is a strong dalit base, being the city in which Dr. Ambedkar had publicly converted to Buddhism as a mark of his opposition to dominant Hinduism. On 6 December 1987, a group of dalits, poor peasants and agricultural workers, forcibly entered the Bombay express train,in order to make their way to Bombay to celebrate Ambedkar's anniversary. I was on this train and witnessed the episode (Mukta, 19.12.;1987: 2199). It was an anniversary which was particularly significant, as right wing Hindu organisations were demanding censorship of passages from Ambedkar's 'Riddles of Hinduism' which has offered a critique of the Hindu pantheon of gods. The passengers who held reserved seats on this train had colluded with the police in locking all entries into this train, in order to stop the dalits exercising their right to travel to Bombay in time for the celebration of Ambedkar's anniversary. The dalits asserted force in gaining entry, causing anger among the passengers who held reserved seats. One of them, a Marwari businessman, mocked an older dalit woman, addressing himself to the middle class passengers: They carry their rotla with them, he taunted, they'll sleep on the pavements or in Shivaji Park the night before the anniversary! Ha! They'll soon go running back to their villages the next day, as their rotla will run out!! They can't afford to buy restaurant food! At this point, the older dalit woman broke into a Mira song, in Marathi, about the dignity of eating stale and dry pieces of roti, nullifying in song the grotesque class arrogance of the Marwari businessman. The effect of the song on the other passengers was remarkable. It evoked a laugh that the businessman had been busted by a poor woman, and it created respect for the dalit woman who travelled the rest of the journey without harassment.”


 * What questions can you ask
 * 1) Why did the woman sing a Meera Bhajan
 * 2) What can you understand of Meera bai's life through this story==

What are the local deities and practices
 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE


 * Question Corner

Activity No #

 * Estimated Time
 * Materials/ Resources needed
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process
 * What questions can you ask
 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE
 * Question Corner

Key Idea #
What are the key ideas to be covered

Activity No #

 * Estimated Time
 * Materials/ Resources needed
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process
 * What questions can you ask
 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE
 * Question Corner

Activity No #

 * Estimated Time
 * Materials/ Resources needed
 * Prerequisites/Instructions, if any
 * Multimedia resources
 * Relevant local connections - people, places and materials
 * Website interactives/ links
 * Process
 * What questions can you ask
 * Assessments - incorporating elements of CCE
 * Question Corner

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