Saint Ramdas Helped Revive Hinduism in Muslim( Dominated) India

Prof Dr Colonel (retired) K Prabhakar Rao

Sant (Saint) Ramdas lived in Maharashtra of India during 17 th century and he has gone in the golden pages of Indian History as the one who has helped revive Hinduism in India at a time when Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was persecuting Hindus very severely and let loose a rule of repression and religious intolerance. He as the Guru (Teacher) of Maratha warrior Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was credited to have inspired him to rise against the Muslim suppression and build a Hindu Kingdom. Accordingly, Shivaji succeeded in building an independent Maratha Hindu State under the very nose of Emperor Aurangzeb that arrested Islamisation of India and played great role in the ultimate destruction of Mughal Empire. Maratha empire dominated Indian political scene till it was shadowed by English power in India. Thus Sant Ramdas occupies an important position in the history of India ( 1). As a spiritual master he occupies an important position among world religious teachers.
Ramdas was one of the greatest saints of the world. His parents were Suryaji Panth and Renuka Bai and he was born at Jamb, Maharashtra, in 1608 A.D. His original name was Narain. Ramdas was a contemporary of Sant Tukaram another distinguished scholar saint. The legend about Sant Tukaram is that he ascended heavens bodily in a divine chariot. He was a great devotee of Lord Pandurang , another name for Lord Krishna. Ramdas was a great devotee of Hanuman ( Monkey God and ardent follower of Lord Rama) and Lord Rama. He had Darshan ( vision) of Lord Rama even when he was a boy. Lord Rama Himself initiated him. Ramdas as a boy acquired some knowledge of the Hindu scriptures and developed a liking for meditation and religious study. When Ramdas was twelve years of age he escaped from the marriage hall never to return to home life. For twelve years Ramdas stayed at Nasik on the banks of the Godavari. He used to get up very early in the morning, go into the Godavari river, and with his body half-immersed in water, recite the sacred Gayatri Mantra ( Holy verse) till about noon. He used to attend religious discourses in the various temples of Nasik and Panchavati. Ramdas also studied Sanskrit and copied in his own hand the Ramayana of Valmiki. This manuscript is still preserved in the collection of Sri S.S. Dev of Dhubliah.
Ramdas did Purascharana (repeated recitation) of the Rama Mantra of thirteen letters Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram ( Victorious Rama hey Ram victory to you always) thirteen lakhs of times at Tafali, near Nasik, on the banks of the Godavari. After the Purascharana was over, once again Ramdas had vision of Lord Rama. It is said that Ramachandra ordered Ramdas to visit holy places such as Nasik, Haridwar, Kasi, etc. It is believed that Ramdas made a dead man come back alive by sprinkling water on the dead body and reciting name of Rama. Ramdas was an Advaitin and a devotee in one. He had this very noble quality that he never hated any religion or nation. His main object was to spread the Hindu religion throughout India. In his pilgrimages, Ramdas observed and studied the social, political and economic conditions of Indians and their utter helplessness in life. He was not a typical sage without a political conscience. He smelt the troubles in India under Muslim oppression and the great persecution of Hindus under Muslim rule.
It is said that Sri Rama ordered Ramdas to go to the banks of the Krishna and help the cause of Shivaji, the incarnation of Siva and founder of the Kingdom of Maharashtra. Ramdas came to the river Krishna and went about preaching from Mahabaleshwar to Kolhapur. He established eleven principal seats of Maruti (Hanuman) which emphasized the importance of physical development. Lord Hanuman is known to be a very great warrior and of immense physical strength and prowess of unmatched vigor and no one could defeat him in combat. He has been the biggest inspiration to all wrestlers in India. He installed the shrines of Sri Ramachandra at Champavati and introduced Sri Rama Navami Mahotsava ( celebrations of birth day of Lord Ram) and the procession of Sri Rama's chariot. It was at the place called Singanvadi that Shivaji became the disciple of Ramdas. Shivaji placed the sandals of his Guru on the throne and acted as regent of the kingdom under the orders and guidance of his Guru and adopted as ensign the flag of orange color. The saffron flag stands as the symbol of Hinduism even today in India. He was inspired to and defends its honor with his life, and to think that the kingdom did not belong to him but treat it as a trust to be ruled justly and well before God. From then onward, orange banner has been adopted by Shivaji Maharaj (Great king) for his royal flag.
Shivaji Maharaj was a very able warrior and dare devil and very bold. He conducted many Guerilla wars against Bijapur Kings in South India and also against the imperial Mughal forces of Delhi. In one of the guerilla raids at Pune he stormed the camp of Governor Shaista Khan, the Mughal representative in South India and slashed at the governor with his mighty sword and in the process cut off his fingers. The governor’s son and many attenders were put to dearth in the night operation. The camp was ransacked and the prestige of Mughal rule was badly eroded. There are innumerable acts of valor of Shivaji in those eventful years. In fact Indians get greatly inspired by stories of Shivajis achievements. It was really a very great credit to stand up against the Mughals at a time when their power was at peak and in his success in establishing the Hindu independent State. Shivaji had many virtues that were absent in contemporary rulers. Influence of his teacher was immense on him.Shivaji always treated women with great respect even when they were captured and were honorably returned to their kith and kin.
Ramdas spent several years in visiting holy places of pilgrimage. He erected several Hanuman temples in Maharashtra. Ramdas's ways were very peculiar. He appeared to the outside world as an unstable man. To men really interested in his teachings, he gave the Mantra Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram. Ramdas had eleven hundred disciples, of whom three hundred were women. The women disciples were also expert preachers and were virtuous. Ramdas sent his disciples to all parts of India to spread the Hindu religion. His disciples and Mutts in the North directly or indirectly helped Shivaji and his work. Ramdas's organisation in the South, round about Thanjavur, helped Shivaji's son Rajaram to go to Jinji and carry on the Twenty Years' War with Aurangazeb. When Ramdas visited Thanjavur inSoth India, Venkoji, who was the step-brother of Shivaji, became his disciple. Ramdas appointed Bhimaswami, his direct disciple, as the Mahant ( chief priest) of the Thanjavur Mutt.
Ramdas generally preferred to live in the forest, where he would say, he had better meditation. In his last days, Ramdas devoted his time partly to literary activities and partly to the systematic building up of his disciples and Mutts, both in the North and in the South. The literary works of Ramdas such as Dasabodh, Manache Shlok (verse addressed to the mind), Karunashtakas (hymns to God) and Ramayana (describing only the conquest of Lanka by Sri Rama and the vanquishing of Ravana) are very popular. It was as a tribute to Ramdas's extraordinary patience and determination in rehabilitating the Hindu religion in India that people named him Samartha (all-powerful) Ramdas, a name which he richly deserved. This great Guru of Maharashtra breathed his last in 1682 at Sajjangad, near Satara, a fortress which was given to him by Shivaji for his residence.
Ramdas repeated the Rama Mantra ( Holy verse) with his last breath and at the time of his departure from the world, a dazzling light emanated from his body and Ramdas was absorbed in the image of Lord Rama.
The last instructions of Ramdas to his disciples were: "Do not think much of your bodily wants. Have Satsang with devotees. Keep the image of Lord Rama in your heart. Repeat the name of Lord Rama always. Annihilate lust, greed, anger, hatred and egoism. See Lord Rama in all creatures. Love all. Feel His presence everywhere. Live for Him alone. Serve Him in all beings. Make total and unreserved surrender unto Him. You will always live in Him alone. You will attain immortality and eternal bliss".Saint Shri Samarth Ramdas inspired, motivated, the disappointed and dejected people of Maharashtra.

His teachings are still green in the memory of people, in the form of books, in Marathi namely Dasbodh, Manache Shlok, Atma Ram. These books have been translated into English language for wider publicity (Refer serial 3 Bibliography). They are relevant for present times also. Once again India needs a great motivator saint like Samarth (Competent and able) Ramdas for achieving her right place in the comity of nations. It is certain that his teachings for excellence will give rise to such persons of eminence from all of us and follow the search for self and group actualization (3).

Bibliography
1. Prof Dr colonel ( retired) K Prabhakar Rao, Strategic Studies into Muslim fundamentalism, its rise in India and its growing threat to India security across the borders, Ph D Thesis ( Strategic studies), 2003, The International University, 1301, South Noland Road, Independence, USA,
2. Swami Sivananda, Samartha Ramdas, http://72.14.235.104/search?q=cache:VbFuCGj0ki0J:www.dlshq.org
/saints/samartha_ramdas.htm+Sant+Ramdas&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2
3..Sant Samarth Ramdas’s Das Bodh, http://www.ramdas.org/

Important Note.
This article is intended to give information on Sant Ramdas who lived in 17 th century and inspired revival of Hinduism. His contribution is similar to that of Vidyaranya Swami ( 13 th century) who was instrumental in establishing Vijayanagar Empire at the most crucial period in Indian History when Islam was systematically destroying Hindu States and imposing Islam on Hindus. His contribution was referred to in the article on Vidyaranya Swami on FC.
This article is also highly relevant in view of recent abuse of Lord Ram and blasphemy by Tamilnadu chief Minister M Karunanidhi over the Rama Sethu issue that has hurt sentiments of millions of Hindus world wide. Lord Sriram is the loved divine personality and the story of Ram i.e. Ramayana is highly venerated in India. There is no Hindu who does not respect and worship Lord Rama (Exceptions are there like members of Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) Party in Tamil Nadu). Such men are very few among millions of believers and insignificant

Note.. This article of mine was earlier published in faithcommons. org and the site at present is not functional.