Hinduism and the Classic Nirguna Bhakti Sants of India, Part One
Also see my earlier post on the Sants and Sikh Gurus:
A Sikh Sant Mat Connection Truly Commences With Baba Jaimal Singh (not with the guru of Sant Tulsi Sahib):
This is a study to provide unorthodox references from various Sants showing they redefined various traditional divine names, including Krishna, to refer to a Formless Supreme Being "stripped of mythological, avataric, and anthropomorphic attributes."
Redefining Divine Names in Nirguna Bhakti Poetry
A Study of How Classical Indian Sants Reinterpreted Ram, Krishna, Hari, and Allah as Formless Reality
Reference & Study Guide Bhakti Movement Literature
Core Thesis & Conceptual Framework
During the Bhakti Movement in medieval India, poet-saints of the Nirguna (formless) tradition-including Kabir, Ravidas, Dadu Dayal, and Guru Nanak-frequently used traditional and conventional names of God (such as Ram, Krishna, Hari, Govind, Madhav, Allah, and Khuda). However, they deliberately stripped these titles of their mythological, avataric, and anthropomorphic attributes.
* From Saguna to Nirguna: Names associated with personal deities or mythological figures were redefined to refer exclusively to Nirguna Brahman the all-pervading, transcendent, and unmanifest Supreme Consciousness dwelling within every human heart.
* Universal Syncretism: By using Hindu and Islamic terms interchangeably for the same formless reality, the Sants demonstrated that ultimate reality transcends sectarian and ritual boundaries.
* Focus on Inner Sound (Naam): Spiritual practice was shifted from idol worship and external pilgrimage to internal contemplation on the Divine Name/Current (Simran / Naam Japna).
1. Sant Kabir
Kabir consistently addresses the distinction between conventional mythological deities and the transcendent formless reality. Re-defining Ram
कबीर राम कहन महि भेदु है ता महि एकु बिचारु ॥
ਏਕੁ ਅਨੇਕਹਿ ਮਿਲਿ ਗਇਆ ਏਕ ਸਮਾਨਾ ਏਕ ॥
"Kabir says: There is a vital distinction in how people speak the name 'Ram'; consider this carefully. One 'Ram' refers to a historical figure bound in worldly acts, while the other Ram is the One all-pervading Reality that enters and fills all things."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 1374
Transcending Allah and Ram
अलह राम जीऊ तेरे नाई ॥
सब महि एकु खोजि सब ठाई ॥
"O God! Whether called Allah or Ram, I live by Your Name. Seek the One Lord within everyone, and in every place; do not divide Him into Hindu or Muslim forms."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 1349
2. Sant Ravidas (Raidas)
Sant Ravidas made extensive use of traditional Vaishnava titles including epithets specifically associated with Krishna -and reinterpreted them to describe the non-dual, formless Supreme Light.
Re-defining Madhav (Epithet of Krishna)
माधवे किया कहीऐ भ्रमु ऐसा ॥ जैसा मानीऐ होइ न तैसा ॥
माधो अविद्या हित कीन ॥ बिबेक दीप मलीन ॥
"O Madhav, what can I say about this illusion? Reality is not as it appears to human perception. O Madhav, attached to ignorance, the lamp of human wisdom has grown dim."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 657/RAAG GAURI
Re-defining Mukund (The Liberator / Name of Krishna)
मुकुंद मुकुंद जपहु संसार ॥ बिनु मुकुंद तन होइ छार ॥
सोई मुकुंदु मुकति का दाता ॥ सोई मुकुंदु हमरा पित माता ॥
"Chant the name of Mukund, O world! Without Mukund, the physical body reduces to mere ashes. That very Mukund is the Giver of liberation; that very Mukund is my spiritual Mother and Father."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 875/RAAG GOND
Re-defining Keshava & Banwari (Forest-Dweller / Krishna)
ऐसा धिआन धरहु बनवारी ॥ मन पवन ग्रिड्रह सुखमन नारी ॥
"Fix your meditation on Banwari in such a way that your wandering mind and breath become steady within the central channel (Sukhmana)."
SANT RAVIDAS VANI/AMRITBANI जाउ तुम कारनि केसवे अंतरि लिव लागी ॥
"O Keshava, for Your sake alone, my inner consciousness has locked in absorbed devotion (Liv)."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 694
Re-defining Gopal & Govind (The Cowherd Names)
मेरी प्रीति गोबिंद सिउ जिन घटै ॥ मै तउ मोल लीन्हि छवि छूटै ॥
"May my love for Govind never decrease! I have purchased Him at the price of my soul; how could this bond ever break?"
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 484/RAAG AASA ऐसी लाल तुझ बिनु कउनु करै ॥ गरीब निवाजु गुसाईआ मेरो माथै छत्रु धरै ॥
गोबिंदु सभु कोहै कहै रविदासु चमारु ॥
"O Beloved, who else except You could perform such an act? My Lord is the Patron of the poor; He places the royal canopy over my head. Thus speaks Ravidas the leather-worker: through this formless Govind, all are liberated."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 1106/RAAG MARU
3. Sant Dadu Dayal
Founder of the Dadu Panth in Rajasthan, Dadu Dayal explicitly synthesized Hindu and Islamic terminology into his concept of Satya Ram (True Ram).
On Allah, Ram, and Khuda
दादू अलह राम दूजा नहीं, सोई साइं सोई साहिब मेरा।
"Dadu says: Allah and Ram are not two separate entities; He is the exact same Lord, the exact same Sovereign Master. Do not wander looking for a body; the true Master is the formless Spirit within."
DADU ANUBHAV VANI
On Krishna & Govind as Inner Light
गोविंद गोबिंद सब कहें, गोबिंद घट ही माहि।
"Everyone repeats the name 'Govind', but few realize that Govind dwells right inside the vessel of the human body. He is not a cowherd of Gokul, but the Eternal Supreme Light."
DADU SAKHI
4. Guru Nanak Dev Ji
Guru Nanak frequently invoked names like Hari, Govind, and Allah while establishing that the Supreme Being is Akal Purakh (Timeless Being) and Ik Onkar (One Formless Light).
On Ram as All-Pervading Consciousness
राम राम सभु को कहै कहिये रामु न होइ ॥
गुर परसादी रामु मनि वसै ता फलु पावै कोइ ॥
"Everyone chants 'Ram, Ram', but merely saying the name does not reveal Him. Only when, by the Guru's grace, that formless Ram comes to dwell within the heart does one realize the divine truth."
GURU GRANTH SAHIB, ANG 491
Summary: Hermeneutic Shift in Sant Literature
* Not the Prince of Ayodhya: Sants explicitly state that their Ram is not the son of Dasharatha or a king bound to history, but the attribute-less reality (Nirgun Brahman).
* Not the Cowherd of Gokul: Names such as Krishna, Madhav, Govind, Keshava, or Banwari are stripped of physical attributes (e.g., flute, peacock feather, physical form) and transformed into symbols for the Inner Lord and the meditative sound-current (Naam).
* Transcending Sectarian Bounds: Names like Allah, Khuda, and Rab are used alongside Ram and Hari to demonstrate that God is undivided by religious dogmas, mosques, or temples.
* Socio-Spiritual Liberation: By shifting divine presence into the internal experience accessible through Simran (remembrance), the Nirguna Sants dismantled social and caste hierarchies, declaring that the Formless God resides equally within every human being.
Compiled for study and textual research on Nirguna Bhakti & Sant Mat Literature.
