Rav Das is the author of many hymns in the Granth Sahib. He was certainly a disciple of Ramanand and a contemporary of Kabir, but otherwise there is nothing known regarding his precise date, parentage, or place of birth. When Rav Das arrived at years of discretion he began to wait on saints. He used to present them with everything he could procure from his father’s house. His father was displeased at this and gave him a separate place of residence. Though his father’s wealth and means were considerable, yet he gave nothing whatever to his son. The latter, who by this time had entered the married state, supported himself and his wife by making shoes, and lived very happily. Whenever he saw a holy man he supplied him gratuitously with covering for his feet. He afterwards built a hut, set up in it an idol which he had made from [ p. 317 ] a hide, and applied himself to its worship. When he was reproached for making an idol out of a hide, he defended himself by descanting on the various advantages of hides. Drums used in worship were made from hides. The cow held sacred by Hindus had a hide. God is contained in animals which have hides, &c, &c.
Rav Das was ever immersed in his devotions, a circumstance which led to the abandonment of his trade and the deterioration of his circumstances. He soon presented all the external marks of poverty and hard life, yet his heart was glad and happy in the contemplation of God. It was during this period of distress that a holy man desired to render him assistance, Rav Das gave him bread to eat and lavished every attention on him. His visitor in return presented him with a philosopher’s stone, explained its qualities, and told him to keep it carefully. Rav Das replied that he did not require it, as his property and wealth consisted in the name of God. When the visitor saw that Rav Das absolutely coveted nothing, he implored him to accept the philosopher’s stone. Rav Das told him he might leave it in the thatch of his house, by which he meant that the article was not worth acceptance. The visitor obeyed Rav Das and departed. On that occasion Rav Das composed the following hymn : —
God’s name is the great wealth of God’s saints ;
Day by day it increaseth and in no way decreaseth.
Nothing can steal it either by day or night ; its possessor sleepeth secure in his home.
O God, what need of a stone hath he who possesseth this wealth ?
After the lapse of thirteen months the visitor returned and found Rav Das in the same circumstances as before. He asked him what had become of the philosopher’s stone. Rav Das replied, ‘ It must be where thou didst put it ; I have been afraid to touch it.’ Upon this the visitor took it from the [ p. 318 ] thatch and departed, fully satisfied that Rav Das desired no earthly wealth.
One day the saint found five gold coins in a basket employed to hold accessories of worship. The result was that he began to fear even devotion to God, lest it might bring him wealth. Then God said to him in a vision, ‘ Although thou absolutely desirest nothing, yet accept the wealth I give thee now.’ Rav Das promised to do so. A pious admirer gave him money with which he built a sara, or resthouse, wherein he entertained holy men. He then built a temple and so decorated it with a canopy, fringes, cords of gold lace, wall lamps, chandeliers, &c, that visitors on seeing its beauty became enchanted. After that Rav Das built a two-storied house for himself on the site of the hut he had hitherto used as a temple, and there he continued to worship with perfect love.
Rav Das experienced the ordinary fate of men suddenly enriched. The Brahmans, through envy and jealousy, complained to the king of Banaras that there was no authority in the Shastars for a shoemaker to make an image of God, yet Rav Das had without any fear or compunction set up such an image and was worshipping it and offering it homage. He ought therefore to be made to suffer for his presumption. The king summoned Rav Das, but was so much impressed with the dignity and reasonableness of his defence that he found no difficulty in immediately declaring him guiltless of any offence against religion.
Jhali, the Queen of Chitaur, hearing of Rav Das’s fame, visited him and became a disciple of his. At this her attendant Brahmans waxed highly indignant. They said that the queen had lost her reason, and they went and complained of Jier to the Rana, her husband, who had accompanied her to Banaras. He sent for Rav Das, and heard the charges of the assembled Brahmans against him. They represented [ p. 319 ] the supreme importance of caste, and the impropriety of allowing a shoemaker to usurp a higher spiritual or social position than that in which he had been born. Rav Das replied, ’ What is dear to God is devotion ; He payeth no heed to caste/ Upon this the Brahmans proposed to refer the matter to the arbitrament of prayer. They read the Veds for three full hours and repeated many spells, but did not succeed in inducing God to persuade the Rana of Rav Das’s guilt. When it came to Rav Das’s turn, he said, ’ O Great King, be true to thy name of Pardoner of sinners.’ He then sang a couple of stanzas. The first line of the first stanza is :—
O come without delay or call me unto Thee.
The first lines of the second stanza are :—
O God of gods, I Thy protection crave ;
Have mercy on me, knowing me Thy slave.
The Rana was easily convinced of Rav Das’s innocence and expressed himself accordingly. Upon this it is said all present became believers in Rav Das’s sanctity.
After that Queen Jhali left Banaras, and returned to her kingdom, where she decided on holding a thanksgiving festival. With great modesty and humility she invited Rav Das to be pleased to attend it. He accepted her invitation and went to Chitaur. His visit afforded her intense pleasure. She distributed a large sum of money in alms on the occasion, and invited the principal Brahmans of her state to meet the holy man. The Brahmans knew that the queen’s guru had been a shoemaker, and it would be better for them to take raw provisions of their own and cook them than partake of food proffered by the queen. They accordingly had food cooked for themselves, but, when they sat down to eat it, it is said, they saw Rav Das seated between every two of them. They then believed in his divine mission and fell at his feet. It is stated that he gained many [ p. 320 ] disciples on that occasion. Rav Das composed the following after the entertainment : —
Clever men, [1] I am notoriously a tanner by caste, But in my heart I meditate on God.
If wine be made even with Ganges water, you holy men will not drink it ;
But if wine which is impure, or other liquid be put into Ganges water, the latter will not be altered. [2]
The palmyra palm-tree, sirs, is admittedly impure, [3] as its leaves [4] are also deemed ;
But if God’s words be written thereon, men will worship it and bow before it.
My trade is dressing and cutting leather and daily removing dead cattle round about Banaras.
Yet prominent Brahmans now prostrate themselves before me, since I, the slave Rav Das, have sought the shelter of Thy name, O God.
Rav Das is said to have been such a perfect saint of God that his conversation and poetry were like suns to dispel the darkness of doubt and infidelity. He performed the meritorious acts prescribed in .the Veds and the Shastars. Orientals believe that if milk mixed with water be placed before a swan, it can by its peculiar bill separate both, and drink only the milk. In the same way Rav Das selected virtue from vice, made choice of good acts and avoided things forbidden.
The following compositions of Rav Das are found in the Granth Sahib :
Nagar jan, also translated — Ye city men. ↩︎
If a man, no matter how highly born, become evil, he is not respected, as wine made with Ganges water is not fit for saints’ use. But if, on the contrary, wine be. thrown into the Ganges, the Ganges water will still be holy, so the lowly are exalted by association with saints. ↩︎
Because toddy, an intoxicating liquor, is made out of it. ↩︎
Kagara, hence kaghaz, the modern Hindustani name for paper. The leaves of the palm or palmyra-tree were originally used for writing. on. ↩︎