Name the poet saints who belonged to the Nirgun Bhakti tradition.
A. Mirabai
B. Kabir
C. Guru Nanak
D. Surdas
E. Ravidas
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → B, C and E only
A. Mirabai Incorrect. Mirabai worshipped Krishna, a deity with a form, shown in sculpture playing the flute. She belongs to the saguna (with attributes) tradition, the worship of deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars.
B. Kabir Correct. Nirguna (without attributes) bhakti was the worship of an abstract form of god. Some of Kabir’s poems are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha, and he described the Ultimate Reality as alakh (the unseen) and nirakar (formless).
C. Guru Nanak Correct. Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns suggest that he advocated a form of nirguna bhakti; for him the Absolute, or ‘rab’, had no gender or form.
D. Surdas Incorrect. Surdas, a poet-saint of Uttar Pradesh of c. 1400-1500, sang of Krishna, a god with form, so he belongs to the saguna tradition.
E. Ravidas Correct. Ravidas (Raidas), whose hymns are in the Adi Granth Sahib beside those of Baba Guru Nanak and Kabir, prayed to a God without form, so he belongs to the nirguna tradition.
Note: Surdas and Ravidas are named in the NCERT book (2026-27), but the kind of bhakti each followed is not stated there; it is explained here for the benefit of the students.
NCERT (2026-27): “2. Poems of Prayer Early Traditions of Bhakti … At a different level, historians of religion often classify bhakti traditions into two broad categories: saguna (with attributes) and nirguna (without attributes). The former included traditions that focused on the worship of specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars (incarnations) and forms of the goddess or Devi, all often conceptualised in anthropomorphic forms. Nirguna bhakti on the other hand was worship of an abstract form of god.… 8.1 Weaving a divine fabric: Kabir … Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages and dialects; and some are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha.… 8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word … The message of Baba Guru Nanak is spelt out in his hymns and teachings. These suggest that he advocated a form of nirguna bhakti. He firmly repudiated the external practices of the religions he saw around him. He rejected sacrifices, ritual baths, image worship, austerities and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims. For Baba Guru Nanak, the Absolute or ‘rab’ had no gender or form.… 8.2 Baba Guru Nanak and the Sacred Word … The fifth preceptor, Guru Arjan, compiled Baba Guru Nanak’s hymns along with those of his four successors and other religious poets like Baba Farid, Ravidas (also known as Raidas) and Kabir in the Adi Granth Sahib.… Fig. 6.17 A fifteenth-century stone sculpture (Tamil Nadu) depicting Krishna playing the flute, a form of the deity worshipped by Mirabai” |