NCERT Class 12 History Bhakti Sufi Traditions Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts

We saw in Chapter 4 that by the mid-first millennium CE the landscape of the subcontinent was dotted with a variety of religious structures – stupas, monasteries, temples. If these typified certain religious beliefs and practices, others have been reconstructed from textual traditions, including the Puranas, many of which received their present shape around the same time, and yet others remain only faintly visible in textual and
visual records. New textual sources available from this period include compositions attributed to poet-saints, most of whom expressed themselves orally in regional languages used by ordinary people. These compositions, which were often set to music, were compiled by disciples or devotees, generally after the death of the poet-saint. What is more, these traditions were fluid – generations of devotees tended to elaborate on the original message, and occasionally modified or even abandoned some of the ideas that appeared problematic or irrelevant in different political, social or cultural contexts. Using these sources thus poses a challenge to historians.

Historians also draw on hagiographies or biographies of saints written by their followers (or members of their religious sect). These may not be literally accurate, but allow a glimpse into the ways in which devotees  perceived the lives of these pathbreaking women and men. As we will see, these sources provide us with insights into a scenario characterised by dynamism and diversity. Let us look at some elements of these
more closely.

1. A Mosaic of Religious Beliefs and Practices
Perhaps the most striking feature of this phase is the increasing visibility of a wide range of gods and goddesses in sculpture as well as in texts. At one level, this indicates the continued and even extended worship of the major deities – Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess – each of whom was visualised in a variety of forms.
Historians who have tried to understand these developments suggest that there were at least two processes at work. One was a process of disseminating Brahmanical ideas. This is exemplified by the composition, compilation and preservation of Puranic texts in simple Sanskrit verse, explicitly meant to be accessible to women and Shudras, who were generally excluded from Vedic learning. At the same time, there was a  econd process at work – that of the Brahmanas accepting and reworking the beliefs and practices of these and other social categories. In fact, many beliefs and practices were shaped through a continuous dialogue between what sociologists have described as “great” Sanskritic Puranic traditions and “little” traditions throughout the land. One of the most striking examples of this process is evident at Puri, Orissa, where the principal deity
was identified, by the twelfth century, as Jagannatha (literally, the lord of the world), a form of Vishnu.

Excercise

1. Explain with examples what historians mean by the integration of cults.
2. To what extent do you think the architecture of mosques in the subcontinent reflects a combination of universal ideals and local traditions?
3. What were the similarities and differences between the be-shari‘a and ba-shari‘a sufi traditions?
4. Discuss the ways in which the Alvars, Nayanars and Virashaivas expressed critiques of the caste system.
5. Describe the major teachings of either Kabir or Baba Guru Nanak, and the ways in which these have been transmitted.

6. Discuss the major beliefs and practices that characterised Sufism.

7. Examine how and why rulers tried to establish connections with the traditions of the Nayanars and the sufis.
8. Analyse, with illustrations, why bhakti and sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.
9. Read any five of the sources included in this chapter and discuss the social and religious ideas that are expressed in them.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 History Bhakti-Sufi Traditions(Changes in Religious Beliefs And Devotional Texts)