Bhagat Pipa

{{short description|Vaishnava Bhakti poet-saint of Ramanandi Tradition}}

{{Infobox religious biography

| honorific_prefix = Bhagat

| name = Pipa

| honorific_suffix = Bairagi

| image = Gurudev pipaji maharaj.jpg

| caption = Statue of Sant Pipa Bairagi

| other_names = Raja Pipaji
Pratap Singh
Rao Pipa
Sardar Pipa
Sant Pipaji
Pipa Bairagi

| spouse = Rani Sita

| children = Raja Dwarkanath

| birth_date = 5 April 1425

| death_date = Unknown (~early 15th century)

| birth_place = Gagron, Jhalawar, Rajasthan, India

| occupation = Ruler of Gagron

| death_place =

| religion = Hinduism

| known_for = 1 verse in Guru Granth Sahib.

}}

Bhagat Pipa (born 1425{{Cite book |last=Datta |first=Amaresh |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo, Volume 1 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=1987 |isbn=9788126018031 |pages=79 |quote=}}) was a Rajput ruler of Gagaraungarh who abdicated the throne to become a Hindu mystic poet and saint of the Bhakti movement.John Stratton Hawley (1987), Three Hindu Saints in Saints and Virtues, University of California Press, {{ISBN|978-0520061637}}, pages 63-66, 53-54Max Arthur Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, Volume 6, Cambridge University Press, pages 111–119 He was born in the Malwa region of North India (east Rajasthan) in approximately AD 1425.{{cite web | url=https://www.searchgurbani.com/bhagats/bhagat-pipa | title=Search Gurbani : Gurbani Research Website }}

File:Pipaji mandir samdari.jpg

Pipa's exact date of birth and death are unknown, but it is believed that he lived in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century.James Lochtefeld, "Pipa", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 2: N–Z, Rosen Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0823931798}}, page 511 Born into a warrior class and royal family, Pipa is described as an early Shaivism (Shiva) and Sakta (Durga) follower. Thereafter, he adopted Vaishnavism as a disciple of Ramananda, and later preached Nirguni (god without attributes) beliefs of life. Bhagat Pipa is considered one of the earliest influential sants of the Bhakti movement in 15th century northern India.

Life

File:Saint Kabir with Namdeva, Raidas and Pipaji. Jaipur, early 19century, National Museum New Delhi (2).jpg

File:Detail of Bhagat Pipa from a mural at Gurdwara Baba Atal in Amritsar.jpg in Amritsar]]

Pipa was born into a Rajput royal family at Gagaron, in the present-day Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. He became the king of Gagaraungarh. Pipa worshipped the Hindu goddess Durga Bhavani and kept her idol in a temple within his palace. While Pipa was the king Gagaraungarh, he abdicated and became a 'sanyasi' and accepted Ramananda as his guru. He then joined Ramananda's Vaishnavism Bhakti, a movement with a strong monist emphasis based out of Varanasi.Ronald McGregor (1984), Hindi literature from its beginnings to the 19th century, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, {{ISBN|978-3447024136}}, pages 42-44 In one of his works "Sri Vaishnav Dharm Mangalam" he says:

{{Quote box

| title = Sri Vaishnav Dharma Mangalam

| quote = सीतारामसमारम्भां श्रीबोधनायमध्यमाम् ।

अस्मादाचार्यपर्यन्तां वन्दे गुरुपरम्पराम् ॥1॥

नत्त्वा रामं तथा रामानन्दाचार्य यतीश्वरम् ।

सर्वमङ्गलदं कुर्वे वैष्णवधर्ममङ्गलम् ॥2॥—Sri Vaishnav Dharma Mangalam{{cite book|author=Pipa|title=Chatuḥ Samprdaya Digdarshan |url=https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/fourth-sectarian-guide-history-of-52-gates-and-akhadas-of-chatu-sampradaya-rzz181/|pages=142}}

| bgcolor = #FFE0BB

| align = center

}}

According to Bhaktamal, a Bhakti movement hagiography, his wife, Sita, stayed with him before and after his abdication when he became a wandering monk.Winnand Callewaert (2000), The Hagiographies of Anantadas: The Bhakti Poets of North India, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700713318}}, pages 277-278 The hagiography mentions many episodes of his sannyasa life, such as one where robbers tried to steal his buffalo that provided milk to his companions. When he stumbled into the robbery in progress, he began helping the robbers and suggested that they should take the calf.Winnand Callewaert (2000), The Hagiographies of Anantadas: The Bhakti Poets of North India, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700713318}}, page 285 The robbers were so touched that they abandoned their ways and became Pipa's disciples.

In his later life, Bhagat Pipa, as with several other disciples of Ramananda such as Kabir and Dadu Dayal, shifted his devotional worship from saguni Vishnu avatar (Dvaita, dualism) to nirguni (Advaita, monism) god, that is, from god with attributes to god without attributes.{{sfn|Michaels|2004|pp=252-256}}

According to the records found with local bards, 52 Rajput chiefs from clans of Gohil, Chauhan, Dahiya, Chavada, Dabhi, Makwana (Jhala), Rakhecha, Bhati, Parmar, Tanwar, Solanki, and Parihar resigned from their titles and offices and gave up alcohol, meat, and violence. Instead, those chiefs dedicated their lives to the teachings of their guru & former king.

Pipa's dates of birth and death are unknown, but the traditional genealogy in Bhakti hagiography suggests that he died in 1400 CE.

Key teachings and influence

Pipa taught that God is within one's own self, and that true worship is to look within and have reverence for God in each human being.

{{Blockquote|

Within the body is the god, within the body is the temple,

within the body is all the JangamasA term in Shaiva Hindu religiosity, referring to an individual who is always on the go, seeking, learning.

within the body the incense, the lamps, and the food-offerings,

within the body is the puja-leaves.

After searching so many lands,

I found the nine treasures within my body,

Now there will be no further going and coming,

I swear by Rama.

|Sant Pipa, Gu dhanasari|Translated by Vaudeville}}

He shared same views as Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and Bhagat Pipa's hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.Nirmal Dass (2000), Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791446836}}, pages 181-184

In popular culture

Shri Krishna Bhakta Peepaji (1923) by Shree Nath Patankar and Bhakt Peepaji (1980) by Dinesh Rawal are two Indian films about the legends of the saint.{{cite book|last1=Rajadhyaksha|first1=Ashish|last2=Willemen|first2=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediaofi0000raja|url-access=registration|accessdate=12 August 2012|year=1999|publisher=British Film Institute|isbn=9780851706696}}