Ranabai - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ranabai

Encyclopedia

Ranabai also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

: रानाबाई, IAST
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is a transliteration scheme that allows a lossless romanization of Indic scripts as employed by the Sanskrit language.-Popularity:...

: Rānābāī), popularly known as Vīrānganā Rānābāī (वीराँगना रानाबाई), (1504–1570) was a Jat warrior girl and a Hindu mystical poetess whose compositions are popular throughout Marwar

Marwar

Marwar is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect "wad" means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word 'Maruwat'. English translation of the word is 'The region of desert'., The Imperial Gazetteer...

region of Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. She was granddaughter of Jalam Singh of village Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

in Parbatsar

Parbatsar

Parbatsar is a city and a municipality in Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.-Demographics: India census, Parbatsar had a population of 80,000. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Parbatsar has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of...

pargana of Marwar

Marwar

. Jalam Singh was a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

Jat chieftain

Tribal chief

A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...

of Ghana/Dhoon gotra

Gotra

In the Hindu society, the term Gotra broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor. Panini defines gotra for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram , which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny beginning with the son's son"...

(clan). Village Harnava is situated in Nagaur district

Nagaur District

Nagaur District is one of the 33 districts of the state of Rajasthan in western India.Area of the district is 17,718 km2. The city of Nagaur is the district headquarters.- Geography :...

midway between Degana

Degana

Degana is a town and surrounding tehsil located in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan, India. The town is situated roughly southeast of 90 km from Nagaur, at a junction of State Highways 59 and 60...

railway station and Parbatsar

Parbatsar

towns. She is known as 'Second Mira of Rajasthan

Rajasthan

". She was a disciple of sant Chatur Das also known as Khojiji. Ranabai composed many poems (padas) in Rajasthani language

Rajasthani language

Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...

Birth

Ranabai was born in the family of Chaudhari

Chaudhari

Chaudhari may refer to:*Chowdhury, a traditional title used by the landowners in the Indian subcontinent; now predominantly used as a surname*Chaudhari, NepalChaudhari may refer to:...

Jalam Singh of village Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

in Parbatsar

Parbatsar

pargana of Marwar

Marwar

. Jalam Singh was a Hindu Jat chieftain of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

gotra. Sagar Mal Sharma in his book 'Rajasthan Ke Sant' has mentioned that her father was Jalam Jat. But as per Dr Pema Ram she was of Dhoon gotra Jat vansha. According to Dr Pema Ram Ranabai was born on vaishakh shukla tritiya somwar samvat 1561 (1504 AD). This is also clear from a doha by Birdhichand, which reads as under in Rajasthani Language

Rajasthani language

पन्द्रह सौ इकसठ प्रकट, आखा तीज त्यौहार

जहि दिन राना जन्म हो, घर-घर मंगलाचार

According to Dr Pema Ram Ranabai's father was Ram Gopal and Jalam Singh was his grandfather. This is also clear from a doha by Birdhi Chand, which reads as under in Rajasthani Language

Rajasthani language

जाट उजागर धून जंग, नामी जालम जाट ।

बस्ती रचक ओ दौ विगत, गण हरनावो ग्राम ।।

जालम सुत रामो सुजन, जा का राम गोपाल ।

उनका पुत्र भुवन ओरू, बाई बुद्धि विशाल ।।

According to Karnisharan Charan of village Indokli also, as mentioned in 'Bā Rānā Jas Bāīsī' (बा राना जस बाईसी), Ram Gopal was father of Ranabai:

पन्द्रह सौ इकसठ प्रत्यक्ष, तीज अक्षय त्यौहार ।

पिता राम गोपाल घर, राना को अवतार ।।

Chandra Prakash Dudi

Dudi

Dudi or Dudee or Duddy or Dhuddy is a gotra of Jats found in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh in India as well as Pakistan. Dudi gotra is also found in Bhati Rajputs, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists and Bishnois.Dudi is an old tribe of Ramayana period. Dudis are Naga...

in his book 'Shri Ranabai Itihas' writes that Ranabai's father was Ram Gopal.

Her family

Jalam Singh, grandfather of Ranabai, had two sons namely, Ramoji (elder) and Ram Gopal (younger). Ram Gopal was married to Gangabai of Garhwal

Garhwal Kingdom

Garhwal Kingdom was a princely state in north-western Uttarakhand, India, ruled by the Panwar dynasty. It was founded in 888 AD and existed until it was annexed by the Gorkhas in 1803...

Jat Gotra. He had one son - Buwanji and three daughters namely Dhaanibai, Ranabai and Dhapubai. Thus Ranabai was the daughter of Ram Gopal and his wife Gangabai.

Jalam Singh was grandfather of Ranabai and was a powerful sardar of about twenty villages around Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

. He was under Bidiyasar Chaudhary

Chaudhary

Choudhury is a term in Indo-Aryan languages, literally meaning "holder of four". Traditionally, the term is used as a title indicating the ownership of ancestral land, but in contemporary usage it is often taken as a surname or title....

of Khinyala. Jalam Sing used to collect tax (lagan) from farmers and deposited with Chaudhary

Chaudhary

of Khinyala, who in turn used to send the taxes to Delhi Badshah.

Ranabai's father Ram Gopal, being younger, was not that popular. He was not educated and so was Ranabai.
Ranabai's parchi refers Ranabai's father's name as Jalamji.

Mystical powers

Ranabai after initiation by his guru Chaturdasji Maharaj, also known as Khojiji, completely devoted herself to the bhakti. When her parents became worried about her developments in spiritual matters, she tried to find a place where no body disturbs her in devotion of god. One day she found such place in a jungle behind her house in a cave, locally known as bhanwra. Without telling any body she went inside the cave and completely engrossed herself in devotion. She remained for about 9–10 months in this cave without any food and water. People believe that god himself provided water and food to her during this period. Her parents searched her every where and at last left the hope of finding her thinking that she might have died. At last when people found her in the bhanwra, they requested to come out before people. After asceticism and concentrating on meditation Ranabai attained Enlightenment. Her fame spread all around and people started coming to her for getting ashirvad. She attained the status of a devi.

Story of her bravery

A subedar of Badsah Akbar heard about the fame of unparalleled beauty of Ranabai and her devotion. Once he was stationed near Gechholāv pond at distance of 6 km from village Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

with a force of 500 horse-riders. He was a man of bad conduct. One day Jalam Singh was returning from Khinyala after paying tax, when the subedar invited Jalam Singh with a bad intention and pressurized him to marry Ranabai with him. Jalam Singh refused his offer and abused him. The Muslim subedar arrested Jalam Singh and attacked Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

. When Ranabai learnt that Muslim subedar had attacked Harnawa with a bad intention to marry her she took sword in her hands and attacked the Muslim soldiers like a tigress. She attacked the Muslim subedar and chopped his head off. She also killed many of the soldiers. Looking to her bravery the rest of soldiers ran away. She thus got freed his grandfather Jalam Singh. The story of the bravery of Ranabai spread in the entire Marwar

Marwar

region.

Follower of the Bhakti tradition

Ranabai was a brahmcharini (observer of celebacy), a strong devotee of God Gopinath

Gopinath

Gopinath is a form of the Hindu god Krishna. He is also known as Gopinathji or Gopinathji Maharaj. Gopinath is associated with gopis who Krishna grew up with....

and follower of the Bhakti tradition. The tendency of Ranabai of bhajan-pujan since childhood had worried her father. Her parents started searching a suitable boy for marring with her but she refused and said she had selected god as her husband. When her father persuaded for marriage she replied in Rajasthan

Rajasthan

as under:

राना कहे राम वर मेरा, सतगुरु मेट्या सब उलझेरा ।

अमर सुहाग अमर वर पाया, तेज पुंज की उनकी काया ।।

Ranabai had visited the pilgrimage of Mathura, Vrindavana with Nimbarkacharya Parsuramdev of Salemabad. She is said to have apparently seen Krishna at Vrindavan. She requested god Gopinath to come to her marudhardesh. It is believed that Gopinath accepted her requests and wished to go in the form of sculpture. Ranabai brought sculptures of Gopinath along with Radha and established them in temple at Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

. One of Ranabai's pada mentions as under in Rajasthani

Rajasthani language

राना की अरदास नाथ थासूं, राना री अरदास ।

जनम मरण री फेरी मिट गयी, पायो परम परकास ।

बिन्दरावन बंशीबत जमना, भलो करायो बास ।

उछव नित नया ही बिरज में, रमै साँवरो रास ।

म्हारे संगडे़ मुरधर चालो, पुरवो म्हारी आस ।

बिनवै 'राना' सतगुरु खोजी, परसराम परकास ।।

ओ महारा मनड़े रा ठाकुर, गोपीनाथ दयाल ।

ओ महारा कुञ्ज बिहारी, मो संग मुरधर चहल ।

मुरधर देस सुवावणों रे, आवड़ ज्यासी लाल ।

आतो जातो रही भला ही, एकर तो तूं चाल ।

बिन्दरावन रो पंथ बतायो, परसा करी निहाल ।

'राना' सतगुरु खोजी शरणे, ले आई गोपाल ।।

Thus Ranabai brought Gopinath and Radha to Harnawa. She always remained busy in worshiping them. She has composed many poems (padas) for the god Gopinath

Gopinath

Gopinath is a form of the Hindu god Krishna. He is also known as Gopinathji or Gopinathji Maharaj. Gopinath is associated with gopis who Krishna grew up with....

. She spent most of her time in prayer and worship of Gopinath

Gopinath

Gopinath is a form of the Hindu god Krishna. He is also known as Gopinathji or Gopinathji Maharaj. Gopinath is associated with gopis who Krishna grew up with....

i.e. Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

. She left behind a legacy of many soulful and prayerful songs, which are still sung in Marwar

Marwar

region in India

India

today. She is regarded as a saint in the tradition of the Bhakti Movement. The 16th century Bhakti Movement showed the path to salvation by devotion. She is known as second Mira of Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Ranabai's poem

Ranabai's poem is traditionally called a pada, a term used by the 14th century preachers for a small spiritual song. This is usually composed in simple rhythms and carries a refrain within itself. Her collection of songs is called the Padavali. The typicality of Indian love poetry of those days was used by Ranabai but as an instrument to express her deepest emotions felt for her ishta-devata Gopinath. Her typical medium of singing was Rajasthani

Rajasthani language

Samadhi of Ranabai

Ranabai took a live samadhi at village Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

on falgun shukla trayodashi samvat 1627 (1570 AD). Birdhi Chand has mentioned in one doha about her taking of samadhi:

सौला सौ विक्रम सही, सताईस शुभ साल ।

ली समाधी राना समझ, जग झूठा जंजाल ।।

Similarly Karnisharan Charan also mentions in a doha about Ranabai leaving this world as under:

सौला सौ सताईस में, फागन तेरस सुदी स्याम ।

बा राना बैकुंठ में, रमिया ज्योति राम ।।

Ranabai's brother Bhuwanji built a kachchi samadhi after she left the world. The samadhi is still present near the temple of Gopinath

Gopinath

Gopinath is a form of the Hindu god Krishna. He is also known as Gopinathji or Gopinathji Maharaj. Gopinath is associated with gopis who Krishna grew up with....

in Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

. The worship of samadhi and the Gopinath temple is done traditionally by the descendants of her family.

On the samadhi site at Harnawa

Harnawa

Harnawa is a village in Parbatsar tehsil of Nagaur district in the Indian state of Rajasthan.The village situated midway between Degana railway station and Parbatsar towns....

village there is an annual grand fair organized every year on the Hindu calendar date bhadva sudi teras, when devotees come from far off places. There is a grand dharamshala near the samadhi site in Harnawa for stay arrangements of the devotees.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.