Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India

4 Religion and the Low Caste in Central India

Chapter 4
Religion and the Low Caste in Central India The Brahman is the guru of the world, but he is not the guru of the devotees— He got entangled in his fourVedas, and there he died. —Kab¯ır Granth¯aval¯ı, The Sants In looking for those movements that had found fertile ground in the relatively barren and economically depressed region of Central India prior to the formation of the Ramnamis, traces of and reference to many can be ascertained. Some arose only to die away within a few generations, while others were able to survive and thrive beyond the initial stimulus and nurturing of their charismatic founders. Two of the continuing groups whose early presence in Chhattisgarh show their indelible imprint on the growth of the Ramnami movement are the Kabirpanth and Satnami sects. A brief discussion of these is meant to help provide the reader with the contextual tools for viewing the emergence, direction, and success of the Ramnami Samaj. The Kabirpanth in Chhattisgarh The discussion in the last chapter of Kabir and his theological interpretation of Ram and use of Ramnam shows the impact he and others in the Sant tradition have had in the popularization of nirgun nam bhakti in North India. The beliefs and teachings of Kabir also had a more direct effect on the Untouchables of Central India in the form of the Chhattisgarh sakha, or branch, of the Kabirpanth . Although tradition names Dharamdas, a close disciple of Kabir, as its founder, it is Kabir who is actually credited with establishing the Central Indian branch for his followers in the region. According to his hagiography, Dharamdas (originally named Judawan) was born to a vaishya family in the village of Bandogarh, Jabalpur District, M.P. He first met Kabir while on a visit to Banaras, then again in Brindaban. He did not become a disciple, however, until Kabir visited his home and convinced him Ramdas Lamb: Rapt in the Name page 45 45 Ramdas Lamb: Rapt in the Name page 46 blank A respected elder, this Ramnami is one of the relative few women who choose to wear a mukut. This picture was taken in 1982 of a Ramnami family. The boy was one of the last of the Ramnami children to be tatooed at the age of two. of the futility of pilgrimages and image worship. Dharamdas’s first son, Narayandas , refused to accept Kabir as his guru, but his second son, Churaman, became a disciple and was eventually named head of the Chhattisgarh branch by Kabir himself. Churaman, then, is considered to be the first head of this sakha, although it is named after his father, Dharamdas. It is said that Kabir instituted the rule that only Dharamdas’s descendants should have the right to give the initiation mantra and to be mahants (heads) of the order.1 Unbroken adherence to this rule is observed up to present day. Over the centuries, the Dharamdas branch of the Kabirpanth attracted such a large following that by the beginning of the twentieth century, nearly 60 percent of the panth membership resided in the Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh).2 While this branch and the one in Kabir’s birthplace, Banaras, are assuredly the main branches, David N. Lorenzen contends that the Kabirpanthi’s own tradition recognizes four distinct branches of the sect, each following a main disciple of Kabir. Besides the two centers listed above, Lorenzen gives the names of two in Bihar, one at Bidupur in Muzaffarpur District and the other at Dhanauti in Chapra District.3 Currently, as in the past, the panth draws its following from two main groups: low-caste Hindus and tribal peoples. According to Lorenzen: In both cases membership in the panth embodies an element of social protest against the hierarchical structure of the Hindu socioreligious order at the same time that it represents a general acceptance of the hegemony of that same order.4 The Banaras and Chhattisgarh sakhas have each reinterpreted the teachings of Kabir in response to the specific Hindu environment in which they exist. Having evolved in different socioreligious milieu, they have developed along somewhat different philosophical and sociocultural lines as well. Banaras has long been known to be a center for orthodox brahmanical beliefs but has also given birth to its share of anti-brahmanical sentiments, such as those expressed by Kabir. The most prevalent value system there, however...