The Sufi and Bhakti Movement:

 In India, the Bhakti and Sufi Movement started to spread during the medieval age. Needless to say,  they involved and utilized a diverse range of expression. Both movements dissociate themselves from the shackles of organized religious, rigid traditions and strike a note of protest against the hypocrisy and orthodoxy of Brahman pundits and Moulvis in their poetry and songs. “Unity of being” and unconditional love between God and the worshiper were the key concepts in the movements. The fundamental equality of all human beings irrespective of the racial or gender discrimination made these movements truly revolutionary for their times. The movement was against the Brahmanic authority, against temples and priests and scholars and fossilized customs. Mahadeviyakka, the poetess and saint, who was born in Sivamogga in the twelfth century expressed her strong desire to release herself from all earthly bonds and exerted to reveal the ambiguity of her complicated relationship with the world and God. In her vachana, or spiritual lyric, she describes it as it follows-

I love the Handsome One

He has no death

Decay nor form

No place or side

No end nor birthmarks,

  With Mira Bai,(1498-1547) the element of Bhakti transforms into a mode of protest against social evil. Mira Bai’s own life had been an instance of deviating from the social practices, as she refused to perform Sati after her husband’s death. Her songs employed a diverse range of expression. The Rajput princess turned into a popular saint of Rajasthan when her guru Saint Ravidas instilled the idea of Prema Bhakti in her mind. She believed that Bhakti is something which is beyond class; gender differences. Therefore, racial and social discrimination were pointless to her.She used to arrange conferences of saints and religious men of every religion, sect, and social class.In  her Bhajan or devotional song, Mirabai writes,

 Paayo ji maine Ram rattan dhan paayo

Vastu amoulik di mere satguru,kirpa kar apnayo.

(I have received a treasure of God’s (Rama) name

My true guru gave me this invaluable gift, and gratefully I accepted it)

Translated by V.S.Gopal

Kabir is another exponent of the Bhakti movement whose songs made a remarkable social commentary. Kabir’s (15thc)dohas offers a religious and philosophical perspective of life.

Sidho sahajai kaya sadho

O Sadhu! Purify your body in the simple way

As the seed is within the banyan tree. (Translated by Rabindranath Tagore)

Simultaneously, Sufism grew as an attitude of protest against the ruling class and against the rigidity of law. Rabia,(801)the mystic of Basara, the first important saint in the Sufi Movement enunciated the doctrine of divine love. What made this religious movement revolutionary was the repeated emphasis on equality of all human beings irrespective of their religion, class, gender, race, and caste. By reiterating this fact, these spiritual leaders incurred the wrath of the orthodox religious communities. The great Persian Sufi poet, Al Hallaj was executed for propounding “an al haq” I am the truth. Another Punjabi Sufi poet ,Bullah Shah(1680) in his kafi or spiritual lyrics incorporated the basic tenets of Vedantic and Vaishnav traditions, resulting strong opposition from the traditional Moulvis ,who tried to suppress his voice. In his kafi, Bullah Shah writes,

Says Bulla,I know not who I am

I am Neither a believer going to the mosque,

Nor am I given to non-believers, ways

The same concept found expression in Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s(1486-1533) devotional songs, and it constructs the bulk of the philosophy of the Goudiya school of Vaishnavism. Similar notions are also evident in the Baul songs of Bengal.