JHULELAL (10th Century)
River deity and popular Saint of Sindhi community. Sometime in the 10th century AS, Hindus in the Sindh region in the north – wast (now in Pakistan) turned to the Vedic river god Varun Dev for protection against conversion by Muslim ruler Mirkhah. Varun Dev is said to have incarnated as son of one Udaichand, and was thereafter called Uderolall. When placed in cradle, the cradle would swing on its own and he was, thereafter, also called Jhulelal2. He saved Hindus from conversion.
KABIR (1440-1519 AD)
He was a poet saint of Kashi (Varanasi, UP) whose poetry is famous even today. He especially preached that there was no different between a Hindu and a Muslim and fought against hypocrisy permeating the faiths. His parentage is not known as he was discovered by a Muslim weaver couple, floating on a lotus in a lake near Kashi. He was named Kabir, from childhood, Kabir was inclined towards religious things. He became disciple of a Hindu guru Ramanand and was loved by both, Hindus and Muslims. He started working on the loom and used to sing devotional songs while working. Since he propagated unity of men and gave importance to creed (unity of thought) and not to caste or religion, orthodox Hindu & Muslim sections tried to discredit him. He believed in Nirgun Bhakti and was against formalities in religion and was thus a revolutionary, His poems were highly critical of both, mullahs (muslim clerics) as cab be noted from the following lines of one of his poems
“Kankar pathar jori ke, masjid lio chunae, Ta charhi mulla baang de, Bahira hua Khudae” (With brick and mortar, tall Masjid has been constructed. Mulla goes on top of it and shouts in praise of god. Has his god become hard of hearing?).
MAHAVIR (599-467 BC)
The 24th and the last tirthankar (holy teacher) of Jain community born as Vardhman, son of prince in Bihar. At age of 30, he denounced everthing, even clothes, since he considered nudity as essential to true saintliness, allowing insects to inferst his body. Killing was against his belief. Spending all the time in meditation for thirteen years, he achieved mental isolation from worldly things (Nirvan) and was acclaimed as a tirthankar, a great spiritual leader. He became known as Mahavir. As a Jain reformer, he is credited with the concept of non-ownership, among Jains.
MEERA BAI (1499-1546 AD)
Considered an incarnation of Radha, Saint Tulsidas and singer Tansen, were her contemporaries. In her formative years, once when she was watching a marriage procession, she asked her mother as to who was her husband. The mother jokingly told her that Krishn Ji was her husband. She grew up with this very belief set in her mind. She would worship Krishn Ji’s idol for much of the day as well as give the idol a bath and dress it up. When she was married to Rana of Chittor (Rajasthan) who was son of famous Rana Sanga, she continued with her devotional activities towards Krishn Ji’s idol, which was not liked much by her husband and in- Laws. They spread rumours about her infidelity resulting in her husband making several attempts to get her killed, But Krishn Ji miraculously saved her every time. A snake sent to her turned into a garland and poison turned nectar by God’s grace. Her husband Rana died early and, fed up with the behavior of her in-laws, she migrated to Brindavan (UP) and continued with her devotional activities there. Later she settled in Mathura (U.P) and finally went to Kathiawar (Gujrat) where she spent her last days. Her devotional songs in praise of Krishn Ji are very popular even today.
NANAK (1469-1539 AD)
Was the first Guru (Prophet) of Sikhs and a poet who spread message of unity and peace during the tyrannical times of Babar. He was founder of Sikh religion. He sang inspirational songs, collection of which are in Adi Granth, a sacred book for Sikhs. He was instrumental in Hindu-Muslim unity and even Babar, ultimately came to respect him. While Nanak write the songs, his discilple Mardana set these to music, both doing community singing. Jap Ji (morning prayers) composed by Nanak and sung by every Sikh, describes different stages through which man traversed to reach eternal bliss. Sohila is a collection of evening prayers, also compsed by Nanak. He also coined some notable mantras (hymns) including Vahe Guru.
Nanak is also credited with invention of Gaurmukhi characters (a simplification of Sanskrit characters).
Granth Saheb, a compilation of hymns by different Gurus and Saints in Gurmukhi is today enshrined in every Gurdawara, the Holy place for Sikhs. He was succeded by Guru Angad, followed by other Gurus-Guru Amardas, Guru Ramdas, Guru Arjun Dev, Guru Hargovind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Har Kishan, Guru Tej Bahdur and finally Guru Gobind Singh.
Guru Arjun the 5th Guru has the credit of establishing Shikhisim as a separate religion, He published the Adi Grant, compilation of compositions of several saints( including Hindu and Muslim saints). However his rising popularity was countered by leading Mughals and then the Hindus, by way of torturing him to death. This gave rise to militancy propagated bu his on, the next Guru, namely Guru Hari Govind. Finally the 10th Guru, Guru Govind Singh transformed Sikhs into a militantcommunity terming themselves Khalsa and started the tradition of Sikhs adhering to waring kesh (long hair and beards), carrying kanghi (comb), Kirpan (knife), wearing kutchcha ( steel bracelet). To discard caste system completely, men were given surname Sing and women, Kaur.
PARSAVNATH (872-772 BC)
Was the 23rd tirthankar (holy teacher) of Jains. He was from a Roayal dynasty. When he was to be married, he preferred to fo in for meditation in absolute nakeness and andabandon the world, He preached agains lust, which was the root cause of greed, adultery, crimes and all other vices. Mahavir followed up and modified Parsanath’s teachings.
RAMKRISHNA PARAMHANS (1839-1886 AD)
Was a scholar saint who worked towards arousing pride in the cultural richness of Hinduism against a pro-western wave growing at a time when British supremacy was in vogue and religious conversions were rampant. At the same time, he was very braod-minded. To him, caste system was irrelevant and one god was no different than another god. He spent much of his time in West Bengal (Kali Temple at Dakshineshwar ) and was married to Sharda Devi, who became holy mother to Ramkrishn’s followers.
SAI BABA OF SHIRDI (1838-1918 AD)
A personification of spiritual perfection and an epitome of compassion. He lived in Shirdi (Maharshtra). He had great healing touch and even his simple glance could cure people. There is no authentic record of his early life but when he landed in Shirdi, people recognized his powers and addressed him as Sai (Saint).After initially spending time in meditation under a tree, he moved to a neglected mosque which he named Dwarkamai. According to some devotees, he is god –incarnate. He was common man’s god. His benevolence, compassion and other virtues evoked great reverence in people who came close to him, He kept a sacred fire perpetually on (dhuni) and gave its ash as holy token to all who came to him for help and blessings, One legend has it that Sai Baba was an incarnation of Shiv ji and was born to a Brahman couple Ganga Bjavaria and Devgiri Yamma in village Pathri in AP. As a child, once when he opened his mouth, SHiv Ji could be seen inside. Since then, people started worshipping him. As a young preacher, he propagated equality of Hindu and Islamic religions, This infuriated conservatives of both religions. Fearing harm to him, his mother took him to an orphanage, run by a hermit in a nearby village. After studying there for sometime he proceeded to Shirdi where it is said, he performed several miracles, which made him quite famous.
SURDAS (1478-1583 AD)
Was blind but highly accomplished poet who composed immotal devotional songs in praise of Krishn Ji. Born in 1478 near Deli and like Tulsidas, he became popular during the reign of Mughal King Akbar. He was born blind and was neglected by his own family, to the extent that by age of 3 years, his real name was forgotten and he was simply called Sur (blind). He spent much of his time sitting outside his home and would listen to troupes of devotional singers passing by. Impressed with these, he followed a troupe on day but because of his handicap of blindness, he was abandoned by the troupe by a lakeside. There, he would listen to conversation of travelers who would stop at the lake for a while and became worldy-wise, to the extent that he developed and extra sense with help of which, he could make some prediction. He migrated to Brindhavan (U.P.) . Impressed by such a sense and his technique of writing & singing songs in praise of Krishn Ji, a guru named Vallabhachrya appointed him singer at Krishn ji’s Srinath temple. Even the great singer Tansen in the court of king Akbar used to sing Surdas songs which very much impressed the Mughal Emperor, Akbar.
SWAMI DAYANAND (1824-1883 AD)
The celebrated Hindu reformer of 19th century and founder of the Arya Samaj movement. An eminent scholar of Sanskrit and Hindi, he wrote a detailed commentary on comparative religions (Satyarth Prakash-meaning expositions of the meaning of truth), vehemently criticized all the Hindu Puraans and worked against untouchability. Born in rich Zamindar Brahman family of Morvi (Gujrat), he was named Mool Shanker. He was later named as Shuddh Chaitanya by a guru whom he met after running away from home because he did not want to get married. Again he met one Swami Poornanad Saraswati who now named him Swami Dayanand Saraswat. He was 24 years of age by his time. Finally in Mathura, he was taken in the fold of Swami Vrijanand as his guru and under whose influence he vowed to revivie Vedic religion. Lecturing from place to place, he reached Mumbai where he established the first Arya Samaj. Later he got great success in Punjab and established Arya Samah in each town, Establishment of D.A.V Schools/ Colleges, Kangri Gurukul etc. are to his credit.
TULSIDAS (1532-1623 AD)
Was a saint who is credited with writing of Ram Charit Manas, the popular Hindi version of Valmiki’s Ramayan. In fact he is considered and incarnation of Valmiki. Tulsidas was married to Ratnavali whome he loved so much that he could not bear ever a days; separation. Once when his wife went to her Parent’s home, Tulsidas followed and stealthily entered her room at night, His wife felt ashamed of this behavior and told Tulsidas that if he could develop even half of such love and devotion for Lord Ram Chandr Ji, he would ger eternal bliss. Tulsidas took her words to heart and became a saint, devoted to Tam Chandr Ji. He wrote several books, the best known being Ram Charit Manas.
Many Other
Popularly revered or idolized saints/guru/holy personalities are also there about whom dedicated books are available.
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