Sant Mat was a spiritual movement on the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

during the 13th–17th centuries CE. The name literally means "teachings of sants", i.e. mystic Hindu saints. Through association and seeking truth by following '' sants'' and their teachings, a movement was formed. Theologically, the teachings are distinguished by inward, loving devotion by the individual soul ('' atma'') to the Divine Principal God (''Parmatma''). Socially, its

egalitarianism Egalitarianism (; also equalitarianism) is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds on the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hum ...

distinguishes it from the caste system, and from

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s. Sant Mat is not to be confused with the 19th-century Radha Soami, also known as contemporary " Sant Mat movement". The lineage of '' sants'' can be divided into two main groups: a northern group from the provinces of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, who expressed themselves mainly in

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

Hindi; and a southern group, whose language is Marathi, represented by Namdev and other sants of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

The Sants

The Sant Mat movement was

heterogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, i ...

, and consisted mostly of the ''sants'' own socio-religious attitudes, which were based on ''

bhakti ''Bhakti'' (; Pali: ''bhatti'') is a term common in Indian religions which means attachment, fondness for, devotion to, trust, homage, worship, piety, faith, or love.See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. In Indian religions, it ...

'' (devotion) as described in the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

.Lipner, Julius J. ''Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices'' (1994). Routledge (United Kingdom), pp. 120-1 . 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 poet-sants expressed their teaching in

verse, addressing themselves to the common folk in oral style in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and other dialects and other languages such as Marathi, Gujarati and Punjabi. 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 Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.* * * * The city ...

in the mid–15th century. Preceding them were two notable 13th and 14th century figures, Namdev and

Ramananda Jagadguru Swami Ramananda (IAST: Rāmānanda) or Ramanandacharya was an Indian 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet Sant (religion), saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the f ...

. The latter, according to Sant Mat tradition, was a

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

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 Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Sikh'' ...

. Sant Mat practitioners accept that Ramananda's students formed the first generation of ''sants''.Hees, Peter, ''Indian Religions: A Historical Reader of Spiritual Expression and Experience'', (2002) p. 359. NYU Press, ''Sants'' developed a culture of concern for marginalized in the society. Some of the more notable ''sants'' include Namdev (d. 1350), Kabir (d. 1518), Nanak (d. 1539), Mira Bai (d. 1545),

Surdas Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singing, singer, who was known for his works written in praise of Krishna. His compositions captured his devotion towards Krishna. Most of his poems were written in the Braj language, ...

(d. 1573), Dadu Dayal (d. 1603),

Tulsidas Rambola Dubey (; 11 August 1511 – 30 July 1623pp. 23–34.), popularly known as Goswami Tulsidas (), was a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava (Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramanandi) Hinduism, Hindu saint and poet, renowned for his devotion to the deity Rama. H ...

(d. 1623), and Tukaram (d. 1650). The tradition of the ''sants'' (''sant parampara'') remained non-sectarian, although 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.Vaudeville, Charlotte. "Sant Mat: Santism as the Universal Path to Sanctity" in ''Sant Mat: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India'' in Schomer K. and McLeod W.H. (Eds.) 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 that has successfully crossed some barriers between Hindu and Muslim faiths. 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 teaches the necessity of a living human master, who is referred to with honorific titles such as '' satguru'', or perfect master.

Similar movements

Classical

Gnostics Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

, medieval

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

poets such as Shams Tabrizi, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi or Hafez, and Sindhi poets, are considered to have many similarities with the poet-sants of Sant Mat.Alsani, Ali. ''Sindhi Literary Culture'', in Pollock, Sheldon I (Ed.) ''Literary Culture in History'' (2003), p. 637–8, University of California Press, The Radha Soami movement in North India, also known as " Sant Mat movement", is regarded as a repository of the tradition of the Sants and their teachings, and their approach to religious endeavours, and presents itself as a 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 is Baba Gurinder Singh and Radhasoami Satsang Dayalbagh (Agra), situated on the banks of the river Yamuna, whose current Living Master is Param Guru Prof. Prem Saran Satsangi Sahab. Other offshoot of Dayalbagh and Beas include Baba Jai Gurudev Satsang, Dinod, Anukul Chandra Satsang, Sachha Sauda, Sawan Kirpal Ruhani Mission etc. According to Mark Juergensmeyer, that claim is also made by the Kabir-panthis, the Satpanthis, the

and other movements that continue to find the insights from the Sant tradition valid today.Juergensmeyer, Mark. ''The Radhasoami Revival'' pp. 329–55 in ''Sant Mat: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India'' in Schomer K. and McLeod W. H. (Eds.) Prem Rawat and the

Divine Light Mission The Divine Light Mission (''Divya Sandesh Parishad''; DLM) was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the Western world, West under the leadership ...

( 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 C. Lane to be an offshoot of the Sant Mat tradition.Lane, David C., "The Making of a Spiritual Movement", Del Mar Press; Rev. edition (December 1, 1993), James R. Lewis refers to these movements as "expressions of an older faith in a new context".Lewis, James R. ''The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements'' p. 23, Oxford University Press (2003),

The Sants

Similar movements

See also

References

Further reading