Ramanand Ji also spelled as Ramananda Ji son of Bhuri Karam Ji and Shasila Ji
was born at Prayag, Allahabad in a Kanyakubja Brahman family. According to The
Encyclopaedia of Sikhism published by Punjabi University, Patiala he was born in
1300 AD. However, according to Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha he was born in 1366 AD.
Sukhdev Singh Shant and Sarbjinder Singh have also given his date of birth as 1366
AD.

Bhagat Ramanand Ji is one of the fifteen Bhagats whose hymns Sri Guru Arjan Dev
Ji included in compiling Sri Adi Granth Sahib. His one hymn in Raag Basantu apears
on Page 1195 of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. In compiling Sri Adi Granth Sahib Sri Guru
Arjan Dev Ji, in addition to the hymns of his four predecessor Sikh Gurus and his
own hymns included the hymns of 15 bhagats, 11 Bhatts and four others closely
associated with the Sikh Gurus. These fifteen Bhagats include (i) Bhagat Jaidev Ji
(ii) Sheikh Farid Ji (iii) Bhagat Trilochan Ji (iv) Bhagat Namdev Ji (v) Bhagat Sadhna
Ji (vi) Bhagat Ramanand Ji (vii) Bhagat Ravidas Ji (viii) Bhagat Kabir Ji (ix) Bhagat
Sain Ji (x) Bhagat Dhanna Ji (xi) Bhagat Pipa Ji (xii) Bhagat Beni Ji (xiii) Bhagat
Bhikhan Ji (xiv) Bhagat Sur Das Ji and (xv) Bhagat Parmanand Ji. Sri Guru Gobind
Singh Ji (1666-1708) gave this Holy Scripture the final form by including the hymns
of the ninth prophet-teacher of the Sikhs Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib and thereby
gave this Holy Scripture the name Sri Guru Granth Sahib which is the eternal Guru
of the Sikhs. This Holy Scripture is unique in the sense that it includes the hymns of
Hindu as well as Muslim saints belonging to various religions, castes and creeds
which include Mohammadan, Brahman, Jat, washerman, calico-printer, chamar,
kasaee, weaver, Rajput and barber who were born in different parts of India.

The parents of Bhagat Ramanand Ji named him Ramditt. The compositions of the
fifteen Bhagats, 11 Bhatts and four other holy saints are given equal status and are
given equal respect by the Sikh community. He promoted Vaisnav Bhakti in North
India, founded the Bairagi sect of anchorites. He studied in Kashi (Banaras) which is
the ancient seat of learning in India and it was at this place that he became a disciple of Raghvanand Ji, the fourth Acharya (teacher, preacher and head of the sect) in the
line of Ramanuja, the founder of Vasistadvaita. Bhagat Ramanand Ji was at number
four in the tradition of Ramanuj Ji (1016-1137).
Ramanuj Ji
↓
Devanand Ji
↓
Hariyanand Ji
↓
Raghvanand Ji
↓
Ramanand Ji
It may be added that the followers of Sri Sampardaya worshipped Chaturbhuja
Naryana and Lakshmi but Bhagat Ramanand Ji initiated a separate sect of his own
Ramavat or Ramanandi Sampardaya wherein the Supreme deities are Lord Rama
and Sita.
The transliteration of the hymn of Bhagat Ramanand Ji as included Sri Guru Granth
Sahib (Page 1195) is as follows:
raamaanand jee ghar 1
ik - oankar satgur parsaad
kat jaa-ee-ai ray ghar laago rang.
mayraa chit na chalai man bha-i-o pang ll1ll rahaaao.
ayk divas man bha-ee umang.
ghas chandan cho-aa baho sugandh.
poojan chaalee barahm thaa-ay.
so barahm bataa-i-o gur man hee maahi ll1ll
jahaa jaa-ee-ai tah jal pakhaan.
too poor rahi-o hai sabh samaan.
boyd puraan sabh daykhay jo-ay.
oohaan ta-o jaa-ee-ai ja-o eehaan na ho-ay ll2ll
satgur mai balihaaree tor.
jin sakal bikal bharam kaatay mor.
raamaanand su-aamee ramat barahm.
gur kaa sabad kaatai kot karam ll3ll1ll

The English translation this hymn is as follows:
Raamaanand Jee, First House:
One Universal Creator God. By the Grace of the True Guru:
Where should I go? My home is filled with bliss. My consciousness does not go out
wandering. My mind has become crippled. One day, a desire welled up in my mind. I
ground up sandal wood, along with several fragrant oils. I went to God's place, and
worshipped Him there. That God showed me the Guru within my own mind.

Wherever I go, I find water and stones. You are totally pervading and permeating in
all. I have searched through all the Vedas and the Puraanas. I would go there, only if
the Lord were not here. I am a sacrifice to you, O my True Guru! You have cut
through all my confusion and doubt. Raamaanand's Lord and master is the All
pervading Lord God. The word of the Guru's shabad eradicates the karma of millions
of past actions.

In this hymn Bhagat Ramanand Ji's main emphasis is that God resides within us and
rituals and pilgrimages are useless. The main contribution of Bhagat Ramanand Ji is
that although by tradition he was a disciple of Ramanuj Ji, but the tradition 'Ramavat’
started by Bhagat Ramanand Ji has no place for caste distinctions whereas the Vaishnava Samparda started by Ramanuj Ji observes the caste distinctions very
strictly.

Bhagat Ramanand Ji clarifies that you may go anywhere, at every place the water is
the same and the stones are the same. God is permeating everywhere equally. Even
the search of Vedas and Puraanas it becomes evident that God Almighty is present
in every particle. He further says that we should not go to search the God Almighty
anywhere because he is present within us. He resides within our own mind. It is
human mind's illusions that God resides at some tirath asthans or some specific
place. He resides within our own mind. In search of God the human being uses
sandalwood and also burns incense and tries to please God by worshipping Him with
these materials. He goes to places of pilgrimage. But God resides within us and thus
these rituals are useless. Bhagat Ramanand Ji further begs, O God! may I be a
sacrifice to you because you have eradicated my doubts and by eradicating my
karamas of previous lives you have merged me in yourself.
According to Sukhdev Singh Shant in this hymn Bhagat Ramanand Ji has stated as
follows:
(i) God is all pervasive
(ii) For the attainment of God Almighty there is no need for rituals or going to
religious places as voyages.
(iii) The attainment of God Almighty is possible with the shabad of the satguru
because only Guru's shabad can break the illusions of ignorance. Guru's
shabad can eradicate the crores of karamas of previous lives.

In the earlier stages Bhagat Ramanand Ji was as traditional regarding the caste
system as his Guru and did not accept persons of low caste as his disciples. He
refused to accept Bhagat Kabir Ji as his disciple because he was a weaver by caste.
But Bhagat Kabir Ji became his disciple by using a very unique method. One day
early in the morning Bhagat Kabir Ji lied down on the path which Bhagat Ramanand
Ji passed through every morning while going for bathing in the Ganges river. On that
day because of darkness, Bhagat Ramanand Ji's foot touched the body of Bhagat
Kabir Ji and he halted and spontaneously uttered the words 'utho Bhai, Bolho Ram'.
i.e., 'get up bhai and utter Ram'. The end result was that Bhagat Kabir Ji got initiated
by Bhagat Ramanand Ji. After that Bhagat Ramanand Ji started accepting the
persons of low castes as his disciples.
Bhai Gurdas Ji (Vaar 10, Pauri 15) has explained this incident as follows:
In Banaras Ramanand Gosain who was leading an ascetic's life lived who would go
daily early in the morning for bathing in the Ganges river. Kabir Ji lied down on the
path. When Bhagat Ramanand Ji's foot touched Bhagat Kabir Ji, he spontaneously
uttered the words 'Bolho Ram'. As the iron becomes gold when touched by paras
(philosopher's stone) and as the margosa tree gets the fragrance of sandalwood
because of its proximity to the sandalwood tree, similarly, Bhagat Ramanand Ji's
touch covereted Bhagat Kabir Ji into paras (philosopher's stone), he instilled in him
the perfume of sandalwood instead of the odour of margosa tree. Bhagat Ramanand
Ji had the ability to transform evil spirits into human beings.
This meeting of the two Bhagats was like merging one wonder into another wonder
and one bliss into another bliss. Thus the waterfall of amrit-ras i.e. the water-fall of
ambrosial water started flowing and because of Bhagat Ramanand Ji's initiation
Bhagat Kabir Ji became a Bhagat of high esteem.
After this incident related to Bhagat Kabir Ji Bhagat Ramanand Ji developed liberal
views about caste distinctions and untouchability.
After Bhagat Kabir Ji's initiation Bhagat Ramanand Ji initiated (i) Bhagat Ravidas Ji
who was chamar and (ii) Bhagat Sain Ji who was a barber and in addition to these
three Bhagats he also initiated Bhagat Dhanna Ji who was a Jat by caste. This
means that in addition to his own hymn included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib the hymns
of four other Bhagats are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib i.e., (i) Bhagat Kabir Ji
(ii) Bhagat Ravidas Ji (iii) Bhagat Sain Ji and (iv) Bhagat Dhanna Ji who were his
disciples. Thus it may be said that Bhagat Ramanand Ji's contribution to Bhakti
movement was tremendous.
Bhagat Ramanand Ji lived on Panjag Ghat also known as Panchganga Ghat of
Ganges and spread religion. At this place he worshipped God Almighty continuously.
It was from this place that he established himself as a teacher where upto now
Panchganga Ghat is associated with his name. It was from this place that his
followers the Ramanandi Bairagis spreaded the message of Rama-worship all over
India, but mostly in the central Gangetic plain.
(Bhai) Darbari Das Ji has mentioned that Bhagat Ramanand Ji was a Brahman and
lived in Banaras. Darbasi Das Ji (Bhai) has also given the names of the twelve
disciples of Bhagat Ramanand Ji.
Bhagat Ramanand Ji was a great scholar of Sanskrit and wrote two books in
Sanskrit (i) Sri Vaishanav Matabuj Bhaskar and (ii) Sir Ramacharan Paddhat.
The main contribution of Bhagat Ramanand Ji to Bhakti movement is that he broke
the caste distinctions and accepted saints of low castes as his disciples. Being a
Brahmin himself he challenged Brahmanical traditions.
According to Sukhdev Singh Shant Bhagat Ramanand Ji left for his heavenly adobe
in 1467 at Banaras after a life span of 101 years.
References used in this write-up include -
(i) The Encyclopedia of Sikhism published by Punjabi University, Patiala Part III,
(1997)
(ii) Mahan Kosh by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, (1930)
(iii) Pandran Bhagat Sahiban by Sukhdev Singh Shant (2018)
(iv) Divine Revelation by Sarbjinder Singh (2004)
(v) Parchi Gosain Ramanand Ji in Parchian Bhagatan Kian, Darbari Das (Bhai)
(vi) Macauliffe's The Sikh Religion Vol. VI, (2009) and
(vii) Varan Bhai Gurdas Ji
The reference has not been given at each place.

Dr. Amrit Kaur
(Retd.) Professor
Punjabi University
Patiala, Punjab, India