The truth about the murder of Guru Ravidas is gaining ground. The people who made a business out of Guru Ravidas’ charismatic character are opposing revelation of this heinous crime. They include equally Chamar and Brahman purohits. Such people have constructed gurudwaras and mandirs in the name of Guru Ravidas. They preach all sorts of nonsense, supernatural stories about him. They know if people start thinking of Guru Ravidas as a common man, their business will vanish. To get donations from lay-Dalits, they project him as Akalpurush who conquered all Brahmans. Some go even to the extent of calling him an avatar of Vishnu.

It is a historical fact that Guru Ravidas was an extraordinary man. He was truly a saint-soldier. I was often wondering: Guru Kabir who denounced Brahmans, their gods and their scriptures in the harshest terms, was never touched by the Brahmans. But what crime Guru Ravidas committed that his murder only could satiate their anger?

Here lies the truth (i) about the ‘bravery’ of the upper castes and (ii) murder of Saint-Soldier Ravidas. Guru Kabir, was a Muslim by birth. At that time India was ruled by Muslims. The Brahmans dared not touch him. On the other hand, Guru Ravidas was born of poor, defenseless Buddhist parents.

Hence he became a soft target. Nobody was behind his back to protect him. The reason for his murder was that he educated Dalits that they were the descendants of great people but now reduced to slavery. He asked them to get rid of their ignorance and agitate to regain their lost regime. He organised all sects of Dalits to regain their lost prestige and, of course, their regime.

Babasaheb Ambedkar borrowed his Three Commandments: Educate, Agitate, Organise from the Guru Ravidas’ Bani.

It is not a mere coincidence that both of them started their movement against Brahmanic oppression, making the ‘right to worship’ as their first step.

Both declared the Brahman Dharma and its scriptures as worthless, both of them claimed that Dalits are descendants of great kings and hence political power is must for their emancipation. In the later stages of their lives both embraced Budha Dhamma.

Guru Ravidas was brutally murdered and doubts have been raised from day one on the sudden death of Babasaheb.

What Guru Ravidas dared to do is startling:

1. After Budha, it was only Guru Ravidas who initiated people into his mission orDhamma. Like his master, the Budha, whom he addressed as Niranjanin his Bani, he initiated women into his mission. Meera Bai and Queen Jhali are two such names. Guru Ravidas imparted education to women and that too Rajputs. It was a direct attack not only on their superiority but also roji roti of Brahmans.

Unlike Dalits, Brahmans know the woman is the real head of the family for all social and religious matters. That is why they call only women to attend their kathas. When Guru Ravidas snatched their real ‘customers’ they got furious.

2. He openly denounced all Brahmanic scriptures including their Vedas, Purans, Smritis, Upnishads  He said: Charon ved kiye khandoti, jan Ravidas kare dandoti (I Ravidas proclaim Vedasare worthless. His companion Guru Kabir did not hesitate to call Brahman purohits as wretched criminals of all four yugas. (Charon yug brahman khote). It was a direct attack on the hegemony of Brahmans who did not allow even other upper castes Hindus to read their scriptures).

Gurumukhi Invention

3. Like his Master, the Budha, Guru Ravidas discarded Sanskrit and its Devnagari He invented his own Gurumukhiscript of 34 alphabets. He composed his Bani in this script. He said: Avidya ahit keen, taate vivek deep bhaya malin i.e. illiteracy and ignorance has done great harm to Dalits, it has caused opaqueness in their thinking. Just imagine, at a time when a Dalit stepping near a school attracted capital punishment, Guru Ravidas coined his own script to impart education to the Dalits. How could Brahmans tolerate it? The Brahmans knew awakened Dalits could never be kept slaves. So before Guru Ravidas could cause much harm to their agenda, they finished him.

Begumpura

4. The ultimate cause for his murder was his exhortation to the Dalits for regaining their lost Achhoot raj. He composed a superb political thought in the shape of Begampura. It is the Constitution of Dalit Raj. Babasaheb incorporated all ideals of Begampurain the Preamble to the Constitution of India which is nothing but a replica of Begampura.

But how sad that none of the thousands of our Dalit teachers ever thought over it. They simply repeat what Shuklas, Sharmas, Chaturvedis taught them about our Guru.

To me, mere literacy is no education. It takes us nowhere.

I discussed this topic with many university professors including Dr. Ronki Ram, Head of the Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh. They all fully agreed with me that Begampura has nothing to do with religion and that it is pure political theory.

Ravidas as Political Philosopher

I requested them that they should ask their universities that Guru Ravidas be taught as a political thinker and his Begampura be included in the textbooks of political science but till date all our Dalit professors are silent.

If high court and Supreme Court judges can quote from the Gita in their judgments, why not from the Begampura which is the basis of our Constitution? This is because the Dalit leaders have buried their ‘Soldier’ Ravidas deep under his sainthood.

Why? Because ‘Soldier’ always asks for sacrifices but a hinduised saint is a source of income.

What is Guru Ravidas’ viewpoint on Dalit Raj?

(1) That the Indus Valley Kingdom has been our Watan. He writes ab mohe khoob watan gah payi i.e. I have fully known my native land. He writes in his Bani that when he preached this message among millions of his brethren, they lamented that so far nobody had told them of this truth.

(2) That our forefathers have been great kings, poets, soldiers, donors and scientists. Our forefathers never used their budhi (knowledge) for destructive purposes. We the Dalits are descendants of such great people that we can be surely proud of them.

(3) That Dalits who were rulers of this land have been dethroned and made slaves. And know it: everybody hates a slave. Even slaves do not have the right to profess their own Dhamma.

(4) That our condition is like that of a king who had a nap while sitting in his throne and during his slumber, he saw himself as a beggar. The moment, we come out of that slumber i.e. ignorance, we shall again be rulers of our native land.

(5) That for regaining our lost regime, the first step is to Educate yourself i.e. know your history and shape your future. Then break the barriers of Casteism and struggle against the oppressors. Educate, Agitate and Organise is a continuous circle.

We the “educated Dalits” must resolve to educate our masses about our true history for which Guru Ravidas sacrificed his life.

Author – Kuldip Kumar, for detailed study, please read my book in Hindi Aisa Chahun Raj Mein…. Sant Sipahi Ravidas. Published by Samyak Prakashan 32/3 Club Road, Pashchim Puri, New Delhi-110 063.