Chapter 8 History 'Devotional Path to the Divine'

1. Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis.

Answer- Beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis:

(i) They believed in logical arguments.

(ii) They criticised the rituals and other aspects of conventional religion and the social order.

(iii) They believed that the path to salvation lay in meditation of  the formless Ultimate Reality and the realisation of oneness with it.

(iv) They advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation.

2. What were the major ideas expressed by Kabir? How did he express these?

Answer The major ideas expressed by Kabir:

(i) His teachings were based on a complete, strong, rejection of the major religious traditions.

(ii) He openly ridiculed all forms of external worship of both Brahmanical Hinduism and Islam.

(iii) He believed in a formless Supreme God.

(iv) He preached that the only path to salvation was through bhakti or devotion. He expressed these by the language of his poetry.

3. What were the major beliefs and practices of the Sufis?

Answer Major beliefs and practices of the Sufis:

(i) They rejected outward religiosity and emphasized upon  love and devotion to God.

(ii) They also emphasized on  compassion towards all fellow human beings.

(iii) They rejected idol worship and simplified rituals of worship into collective prayers.

(iv) They believed in monotheism or submission to one God.

(v) They rejected the elaborate rituals and codes of behaviour demanded by Muslim religious scholars.

4. Why do you think many teachers rejected prevalent religious beliefs and practices?

Answer (i) Many teachers rejected prevalent religious beliefs and practices because:-

1. It created differences in the society.

2.Those teachings favoured the upper caste people and lower caste people suffered.

 3. They believed in equality of God and wanted  to remove  the evils of the society.

5. What were the major teachings of Baba Guru Nanak?

Answer- Major teachings of Baba Guru Nanak:

(i) He emphasized upon  the importance of the worship of one God.

(ii) He insisted that caste, creed or gender were  irrelevant for attaining liberation.

 (iii) He used the terms nam, dan and isnan for the essence of his teaching, which actually meant right worship, welfare of others and purity of conduct.

(iv) He underlined the importance of right belief and worship, honest living, and helping others.

Additional Questions/Answer

    1-Who built temples between 10^th and 12^th century and why?

     Answer. The Cholas and The  Pandyas kings built elaborate  temples around 10^th and 12^th century for  strengthening the links between the bhakti tradition and temple worship.

    2-Write the names of some deities.   

Answer-Shiva,Vishnu,and Durga were some deities who were  worshipped through elaborate rituals.

   3-Which two types of groups  emerged in South India during  seventh to ninth centuries ?

   Answer-Nayanars and Alvars were two groups who emerged in South India .

    Nayanars-Saints who  were devoted to Shiva .There were 63 Nayanars , who belonged to different caste backrounds such as potters,untouchable workers,peasants, hunters etc.

 Alvars-Saints who were  devoted to Vishnu.There were 12 Alvars,who came from equally divergent backrounds.

4.Write a note on Khanqahs.

Answer-Khanqahs were the place where Sufi masters  held their assemblies.Devotees of all descriptions including members of the royalty and nobility,and ordinary people flocked to these khanqahs.They discussed spiritual matters,sought  the blessings of the saints in solving their worldly problems,or simply attented the music and dance sessions.

5.Who was Surdas?

Answer-Surdas was an ardent devotee of Krishna.His compositions,compiled in the Sursagara,Surasarvali and Sahitya Lehri.

6-Write  in detail about Virashaivism movement.

Answer-Virashaiva movement was started by Basavanna and his companions Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi.This movement began in Karnataka in the mid twelfth century.They were against Brahmanical ideas about caste ,the treatment of women,all forms of ritual and idol worship.They believed in the equality of all human beings.