Sant Mat
Encyclopedia
Sant Mat was a loosely associated group of teachers that became prominent in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century. Theologically, their teachings are distinguished by an inward, loving devotion to a divine principle, and socially by an egalitarianism opposed to the qualitative distinctions of the Hindu caste
system, and to those between Hindus and Muslims.
The sant lineage can be divided into two main groups: The northern group of Sants from the provinces of Punjab
, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh
, who expressed themselves mainly in vernacular
Hindi, and the southern group, whose language is archaic Marathi
, represented by Namdev
and other Sants of Maharashtra
.
sat and has overlapping usages (true, real, honest, right). Its root meaning is "one who knows the truth" or "one who has experienced Ultimate Reality." The term Sant has taken on the general meaning of "a good person" but is properly assigned to the poet-sants of medieval India.
(devotion) as described a thousand years earlier in the Bhagavad Gita
. Sharing as few conventions with each other as with the followers of the traditions they challenged, the Sants appear more as a diverse collection of spiritual personalities than a specific religious tradition, although they acknowledged a common spiritual root.
The boundaries of the movement were likely not sectarian and were devoid of Brahmin
concepts of caste and liturgy. The poet-sants expressed their teaching in vernacular
verse, addressing themselves to the common folk in oral style in Hindi
and other dialects such as Marathi
. They referred to the "Divine Name" as having saving power, and dismissed the religious rituals as having no value. They presented the idea that true religion was a matter of surrendering to God "who dwells in the heart".
The first generation of north Indian sants, (which included Kabir
and Ravidas), appeared in the region of Benares in the mid 15th century. Preceding them were two notable 13th and 14th century figures, Namdev
and Ramananda
. The latter, according to Sant Mat tradition, was a Vaishnava ascetic who initiated Kabir, Ravidas, and other sants. Ramanand's story is told differently by his lineage of "Ramanandi" monks, by other Sants preceding him, and later by the Sikhs. What is known is that Ramananda accepted students of all castes, a fact that was contested by the orthodox Hindus of that time. Sant Mat practitioners accept that Ramananda's students formed the first generation of Sants.
These Sants developed a culture of being close to marginalized humans in society including women, and the untouchables (Atishudras). Some of the more notable Sants include Namdev
(d.1350), Kabir
(d.1518), Nanak (d.1539), Mira Bai (d.1545), Surdas
(d.1573), Tulsidas
(d.1623), and Tukaram
(d. 1650).
The 'tradition of the Sants' (sant parampara
) remained non-sectarian, though a number of Sant poets have been considered as the founders of sects. Some of these may bear the Sant's name, but were developed after them by later followers such as Kabir Panth, Dadu Panth, Dariya Panth, Advait Mat
, Science of Spirituality and Radhasoami.
Only a small minority of religious Hindus have formally followed Sant Mat, but the tradition has considerably influenced Hindus across sects and castes. Bhajans (devotional songs) attributed to past Sants such as Mira Bai are widely listened to in India and in Hindu communities around the world. The Sant tradition is the only one in medieval and modern India which has successfully crossed some barriers between Hindu
and Muslim
blocks. Julius J. Lipner
asserts that the lives of many Hindus have been leavened by the religious teachings of the Sants, which he describes as liberating.
The Sant Mat tradition refers to the necessity of a living human master, which is referred to with honorific titles such as Satguru
, or perfect master.
poets, are considered to have many similarities with the poet-sants of Sant Mat.
The Radhasoami movement in North India regards itself as the main repository of the tradition of the Sants and their teachings, as well as their approach to religious endeavors, and presents itself as the living incarnation of the Sant tradition. The most notable being Radhasoami Satsang Beas, situated on the banks of the river Beas, whose current living master in Maharaj Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon
. According to Mark Juergensmeyer
, that claim is also made by the Kabir-panthis, the Sikhs and other movements that continue to find the insights from the Sant tradition valid today.
Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat
) and the Divine Light Mission
(Elan Vital
) are considered to be part of the Sant Mat tradition by J. Gordon Melton
, Lucy DuPertuis, and Vishal Mangalwadi
, but that characterization is disputed by Ron Geaves
. The 20th century religious movement Eckankar
is also considered by David Lane
to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition. James R. Lewis refers to these movements as "expressions of an older faith in a new context."
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
system, and to those between Hindus and Muslims.
The sant lineage can be divided into two main groups: The northern group of Sants from the provinces of Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, who expressed themselves mainly in vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
Hindi, and the southern group, whose language is archaic Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, represented by Namdev
Namdev
Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...
and other Sants of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
.
Etymology
The expression "Sant Mat" literally means the "Path of Sants (Saints)", "Path of Truth", "Right or Positive Path" or "point of view of the Sants." The term Sant is derived from the SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
sat and has overlapping usages (true, real, honest, right). Its root meaning is "one who knows the truth" or "one who has experienced Ultimate Reality." The term Sant has taken on the general meaning of "a good person" but is properly assigned to the poet-sants of medieval India.
The Sants
The Sant Mat movement was not homogeneous, and consisted mostly of the Sants' own socio-religious attitudes which were based on bhaktiBhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
(devotion) as described a thousand years earlier in the Bhagavad Gita
Bhagavad Gita
The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...
. Sharing as few conventions with each other as with the followers of the traditions they challenged, the Sants appear more as a diverse collection of spiritual personalities than a specific religious tradition, although they acknowledged a common spiritual root.
The boundaries of the movement were likely not sectarian and were devoid of Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
concepts of caste and liturgy. The poet-sants expressed their teaching in vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
verse, addressing themselves to the common folk in oral style in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and other dialects such as Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
. They referred to the "Divine Name" as having saving power, and dismissed the religious rituals as having no value. They presented the idea that true religion was a matter of surrendering to God "who dwells in the heart".
The first generation of north Indian sants, (which included Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
and Ravidas), appeared in the region of Benares in the mid 15th century. Preceding them were two notable 13th and 14th century figures, Namdev
Namdev
Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...
and Ramananda
Ramananda
Ramananda , also referred to as Sant Ramanand or Swami Ramanand, was a Vaishnava sant. He is considered to be the reviver of the Ramanandi sect. Ramananda for the most part of his life lived in the holy city of Varanasi, and was a pioneer of the Bhakti movement, as well as a social reformer in...
. The latter, according to Sant Mat tradition, was a Vaishnava ascetic who initiated Kabir, Ravidas, and other sants. Ramanand's story is told differently by his lineage of "Ramanandi" monks, by other Sants preceding him, and later by the Sikhs. What is known is that Ramananda accepted students of all castes, a fact that was contested by the orthodox Hindus of that time. Sant Mat practitioners accept that Ramananda's students formed the first generation of Sants.
These Sants developed a culture of being close to marginalized humans in society including women, and the untouchables (Atishudras). Some of the more notable Sants include Namdev
Namdev
Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...
(d.1350), Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
(d.1518), Nanak (d.1539), Mira Bai (d.1545), Surdas
Surdas
Surdas, the 15th century sightless saint, poet and musician, is known for his devotional songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Surdas is said to have written and composed a hundred thousand songs in his magnum opus the 'Sur Sagar' , out of which only about 8,000 are extant...
(d.1573), Tulsidas
Tulsidas
Tulsidas , was a Hindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion for the god Rama...
(d.1623), and Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...
(d. 1650).
The 'tradition of the Sants' (sant parampara
Parampara
Parampara denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and Indian religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism...
) remained non-sectarian, though a number of Sant poets have been considered as the founders of sects. Some of these may bear the Sant's name, but were developed after them by later followers such as Kabir Panth, Dadu Panth, Dariya Panth, Advait Mat
Advait Mat
Advait Mat was a cluster of movements in northern India which perceive themselves to be originating from Totapuri in the 18th century.- See also :* Totapuri* Anandpuri Ji* Advaitanand Ji* Swarupanand* Hans Ji Maharaj* Prem Rawat* Divine Light Mission...
, Science of Spirituality and Radhasoami.
Only a small minority of religious Hindus have formally followed Sant Mat, but the tradition has considerably influenced Hindus across sects and castes. Bhajans (devotional songs) attributed to past Sants such as Mira Bai are widely listened to in India and in Hindu communities around the world. The Sant tradition is the only one in medieval and modern India which has successfully crossed some barriers between Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
and Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
blocks. Julius J. Lipner
Julius J. Lipner
, who is of Indo-Czech origin, is at the .He was born and brought up in India, for the most part in West Bengal. After his schooling in India, he obtained a Licentiate in Theology in the Pontifical Athenaeum in Poona, and then spent two years studying for an M.A. in Indian and Western philosophy...
asserts that the lives of many Hindus have been leavened by the religious teachings of the Sants, which he describes as liberating.
The Sant Mat tradition refers to the necessity of a living human master, which is referred to with honorific titles such as Satguru
Satguru
Satguru does not merely mean true guru. The term is distinguished from other forms of gurus, such as musical instructors, scriptural teachers, parents, and so on...
, or perfect master.
Related movements
Medieval Sufi poets such as Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, as well as SindhiSindhi people
Sindhis are a Sindhi speaking socio-ethnic group of people originating from Sindh, a province Formerly of British India, now in Pakistan. Today Sindhis that live in Pakistan belong to various religious denominations including Islam, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity...
poets, are considered to have many similarities with the poet-sants of Sant Mat.
The Radhasoami movement in North India regards itself as the main repository of the tradition of the Sants and their teachings, as well as their approach to religious endeavors, and presents itself as the living incarnation of the Sant tradition. The most notable being Radhasoami Satsang Beas, situated on the banks of the river Beas, whose current living master in Maharaj Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon
Gurinder Singh
Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon became the successor to Maharaj Charan Singh at the age of 36 years on June 1, 1990. He is the second youngest person to be appointed to head the Radha Soami Satsang Beas headquarters, .Gurinder Singh Dhillon was born to a Sikh family of the Dhillon clan who were...
. According to Mark Juergensmeyer
Mark Juergensmeyer
thumb | right | 150px | Mark Juergensmeyer Mark Juergensmeyer is an American scholar and writer best known for his studies of religious violence and...
, that claim is also made by the Kabir-panthis, the Sikhs and other movements that continue to find the insights from the Sant tradition valid today.
Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat
Prem Rawat
Prem Pal Singh Rawat , also known as Maharaji and formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji and Balyogeshwar, teaches a meditation practice he calls Knowledge....
) and the Divine Light Mission
Divine Light Mission
The Divine Light Mission was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth and youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji...
(Elan Vital
Elan Vital
Elan Vital can refer to:* Élan vital, a philosophical term coined by Henri Bergson, roughly translated to vital impetus or force* Elan Vital , a nonprofit group formed in the United States, active from 1971 to 2010...
) are considered to be part of the Sant Mat tradition by J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...
, Lucy DuPertuis, and Vishal Mangalwadi
Vishal Mangalwadi
Vishal Mangalwadi is an international lecturer, social reformer, political columnist, and author of thirteen books. He is currently working on a historical documentary that seeks to demonstrate the Bible's role in providing the essential ideological basis for the political freedoms of the West...
, but that characterization is disputed by Ron Geaves
Ron Geaves
Ron Geaves is a professor of religion at Liverpool Hope University in England. He was formerly Programme Leader and Chair in religious studies at the University of Chester in England and Head of Department at the University of Chichester. He is currently Chair of the Muslims in Britain Research...
. The 20th century religious movement Eckankar
Eckankar
Eckankar is a new religious movement founded in the United States in 1965, though practiced around the world long before with a solid following in China. It focuses on spiritual exercises enabling practitioners to experience what its followers call "the Light and Sound of God." The personal...
is also considered by David Lane
David Lane
-People:* David Lane , American social conservative Christian political activist* David Lane , director of the film Thunderbirds are GO and various episodes of Gerry Anderson TV series* David Lane , American lawyer...
to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition. James R. Lewis refers to these movements as "expressions of an older faith in a new context."
See also
- SikhismSikhismSikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
- Advait MatAdvait MatAdvait Mat was a cluster of movements in northern India which perceive themselves to be originating from Totapuri in the 18th century.- See also :* Totapuri* Anandpuri Ji* Advaitanand Ji* Swarupanand* Hans Ji Maharaj* Prem Rawat* Divine Light Mission...
- BhaktiBhaktiIn Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...
- Bhakti movementBhakti movementThe Bhakti movement is a Hindu religious movement in which the main spiritual practice is loving devotion among the Shaivite and Vaishnava saints. The Bhakti movement originated in ancient Tamil Nadu and began to spread to the north during the late medieval ages when north India was under Islamic...
- MeditationMeditationMeditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
- Radha SoamiRadha SoamiRadhasoami is a philosophical organization originating in 19th century India, and considered by adherents as a true way to attain God realization...
- Radha Swami Satsang, DinodRadha Swami Satsang, DinodThe Radha Swami faith was started by Param Sant Shiv Dayal Singh ji on Basant-Panchami day in January 1861. He manifested himself in a respectable family of Khatris at Agra on August 24, 1818. Radha Swami faith is built on the preachings of perfect Saint or true Guide and Preceptor Param Sant Shiv...
- Param Sant Shiv Dayal Singh jiShiv Dayal SinghSeth Shiv Dayal Singh was born on the 25th august. At the age of five, he was sent to school where he learnt Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Gurumukhi. He also acquired a working knowledge of Arabic and Sanskrit...
- Param Sant Rai Bahadur Saligram Sahib jiRai SaligramRai Bahadur Saligram ji, popularly known as Huzur Maharaj ji, was born in a Kayastha family of Peepal Mandi, Agra, on 14 March 1829. He served as chief inspector of post offices in India, and in 1881, promoted as the Postmaster General of the North-Western Provinces with headquarters at Allahabad...
- Param Sant Shiv Brat Lal Verman ji
- Param Sant Master Ram Singh Arman jiRam Singh ArmanParam Sant Arman Saheb ji, was born in a Yadav family of Jui Village in Haryana. He arrived on this planet on ninth of month Ausouj . He was a teacher by profession. -Radha Swami spiritual movement:...
- Param Sant Tarachand jiSant TarachandParam Sant Tarachand ji Maharaj, popularly known as Bade Maharaj ji was born in a poor family in Dinod village of Haryana state. His spiritual cravings were very intense and started his search for the Supreme creator at early age of six. He liked the company of the mystics and saints very much. He...
- Param Sant Kanwar Saheb ji
- Sant Baljit SinghSant Baljit SinghSant Baljit Singh is a spiritual Master in the Sant Mat lineage of contemporary saints. Initiated by his Master Sant Thakar Singh in 1998, he began work as a Master on February 6, 2005...
- Sant Rajinder Singh Ji MaharajSant Rajinder Singh Ji MaharajSant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj current head of Science of Spirituality and of the Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission, is internationally recognized for his work towards inner and outer peace...
- Sant Ajaib SinghSant Ajaib SinghSant Ajaib Singh known to his disciples as Sant Ji was born on the 11th of September 1926 in Maina, District Bhatinda, Punjab, India. He is considered a Sant of Surat Shabd Yoga. His Master Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj of Delhi was a disciple of Sawan Singh...
- Sant Thakar SinghSant Thakar SinghSant Thakar Singh was a spiritual teacher in the Sant Mat lineage of contemporary saints.Initiated by Sant Kirpal Singh in 1965, he began work as a Satguru himself in 1976, following the passing of his beloved Master...
- Sirio CarrapaSirio CarrapaSatguru Sirio Carrapa is an Italian mystic. He was a disciple of Sant Kirpal Singh and Sant Ajaib Singh, and is a spiritual Master of Surat Shabd Yoga. He is also an expert in Ayurveda and teacher of Ayurvedic massage .- Biography :After his childhood, he went to live in Milan where he lived for...
- Surat Shabd YogaSurat Shabd YogaSurat Shabd Yoga or Surat Shabda Yoga is a form of spiritual practice that is followed in the Sant Mat and many other related spiritual traditions...
- SufismSufismSufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...