NCERT solutions for Themes In Indian History Part I, II, and III [English] Class 12 chapter 6 - Bhakti –Sufi Traditions: Changes in Religious Beliefs and Devotional Texts [Latest edition]

This is an excerpt from a composition of an Alvar named Tondaradippodi, who was a Brahmana:

You (Vishnu) manifestly like those “servants” who express their love for your feet, though they may be born outcastes, more than the Chaturvedins who are strangers and without allegiance to your service.

This is a verse composed by Appar, a Nayanar saint:

O rogues who quote the law books,

Of what use are your gotra and kula?

Just bow to Marperu’s lord (Shiva who resides in Marperu, in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu) as your sole refuge.

This is an excerpt from a poem by Karaikkal Ammaiyar in which she describes herself:

The female Pey (demoness) with . . . bulging veins, protruding eyes, white teeth and shrunken stomach, red haired and jutting teeth lengthy shins extending till the ankles, shouts and wails while wandering in the forest. This is the forest of Alankatu, which is the home of our father (Shiva) who dances … with his matted hair thrown in all eight directions, and with cool limbs.

Here is a vachana composed by Basavanna:

When they see a serpent carved in stone, they pour milk on it.

If a real serpent comes, they say: “Kill. Kill.”

To the servant of the god who could eat if served they say: “Go away! Go away!”

But to the image of the god which cannot eat, they offer dishes of food.

This is an excerpt from a farman (imperial order) issued by Akbar in 1598:

Whereas it reached our eminent and holy notice that the padris (fathers) of the Holy Society of Jesus wish to build a house of prayer (church) in the city of Kambayat (Khambat, in Gujarat); therefore an exalted mandate … is being issued, … that the dignitaries of the city of Kambayat should in no case stand in their way but should allow them to build a church so that they may engage themselves in their own worship. It is necessary that the order of the Emperor should be obeyed in every way.

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Aurangzeb to a Jogi in 1661-62:

The possessor of the sublime station, Shiv Murat, Guru Anand Nath Jio!

May your Reverence remain in peace and happiness ever under the protection of Sri Shiv Jio!

… A piece of cloth for the cloak and a sum of twenty-five rupees, which have been sent as an offering, will reach (Your Reverence) … Your Reverence may write to us whenever there is any service which can be rendered by us.

The following is an excerpt from Jahanara’s biography of Shaikh Muinuddin Chishti, titled Munis al Arwah (The Confidant of Spirits):

After praising the one God … this lowly faqira (humble soul) Jahanara ... went from the capital Agra in the company of my great father (Emperor Shah Jahan) towards the pure region of incomparable Ajmer … I was committed to this idea, that every day in every station I would perform two cycles of optional prayer …

For several days ... I did not sleep on a leopard skin at night, I did not extend my feet in the direction of the blessed sanctuary of the revered saving master, and I did not turn my back towards him. I passed the days beneath the trees.

On Thursday, the fourth of the blessed month of Ramzan, I attained the happiness of pilgrimage to the illuminated and the perfumed tomb … With an hour of daylight remaining, I went to the holy sanctuary and rubbed my pale face with the dust of that threshold. From the doorway to the blessed tomb I went barefoot, kissing the ground. Having entered the dome, I went around the light-filled tomb of my master seven times … Finally, with my own hand I put the finest quality of itar on the perfumed tomb of the revered one, and having taken off the rose scarf that I had on my head, I placed it on the top of the blessed tomb ...

A song set to the rhythm of the spinning wheel:

As you take the cotton, you do zikr-i jali
As you separate the cotton, you should do zikr-i qalbi
And as you spool the thread, you should do zikr-i aini
Zikr should be uttered from the stomach through the chest,
And threaded through the throat.
The threads of breath should be counted one by one, oh sister.
Up to twenty-four thousand.
Do this day and night,
And offer this to your pir as a gift.

This excerpt from a Sufi text describes the proceedings at Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s hospice in 1313:

I (the author, Amir Hasan Sijzi) had the good fortune of kissing his (Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya’s) feet … At this time a local ruler had sent him the deed of ownership to two gardens and much land, along with the provisions and tools for their maintenance. The ruler had also made it clear that he was relinquishing all his rights to both the gardens and land. The master … had not accepted that gift. Instead, he had lamented: “What have I to do with gardens and fields and lands? … None of … our spiritual masters had engaged in such activity.”

Then he told an appropriate story: “… Sultan Ghiyasuddin, who at that time was still known as Ulugh Khan, came to visit Shaikh Fariduddin (and) offered some money and ownership deeds for four villages to the Shaikh, the money being for the benefit of the dervishes (sufis), and the land for his use. Smiling, Shaikh al Islam (Fariduddin) said: ‘Give me the money. I will dispense it to the dervishes. But as for those land deeds, keep them. There are many who long for them. Give them away to such persons.’”

Here is a composition attributed to Kabir:

Tell me, brother, how can there be
No one lord of the world but two?
Who led you so astray?
God is called by many names:
Names like Allah, Ram, Karim, Keshav, Hari, and Hazrat.
Gold may be shaped into rings and bangles.
Isn’t it gold all the same?
Distinctions are only words we invent …
Kabir says they are both mistaken.
Neither can find the only Ram. One kills the goat, the other cows.
They waste their lives in disputation.

This is part of a song attributed to Mirabai:

I will build a funeral pyre of sandalwood and aloe;
Light it by your own hand
When I am burned away to cinders;
Smear this ash upon your limbs.
… let flame be lost in flame.

In another verse, she sings:
What can Mewar’s ruler do to me?
If God is angry, all is lost,
But what can the Rana do?