FEB-22 - BOUDHIK YOJANA
6th Feb Samachar Sameeksha: ONDC To Be Next UPI Moment, To Give Startups New Opportunities To Grow In India
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday (21 January) said that ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) will be the next UPI (Unified Payments Interface) of India.
While releasing the NASSCOM Tech Start-up Report 2022, Goyal said Startup India started a revolution six years ago and today ‘Startup’ has become a common household term.
Indian Startups are fast becoming the champions of India Inc’s growth story, he added.
He said the new India is today being led by new troika of Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (ITE), which in a way has grown further from the original ICE (Information, Communication and Entertainment).
India’s unique digital infrastructure - Aadhaar, Digilocker, Fastag, Cowin, UPI have enabled access and affordability.
The Cowin portal showed the world that India could run world’s largest vaccination programme efficiently and effectively, with complete mapping and monitoring done digitally. UPI has also helped new age technologies in reaching the common man at affordable prices.
ONDC, developed in India, will probably be the first-of-its-kind network or platform in the world and it is intended to enable interoperability between e-commerce companies and provide equal opportunity to small and large players opportunity to reach to the common man in the nook and corner of the country. It also aspires to democratize digital commerce by pushing it away from a platform-centric approach and toward an open-network model.
ONDC is believed to be the next UPI moment which will help new-age technology in taking access to the common man at affordable cost and giving our startups new opportunities to grow in India.
13th Feb Boudhik: Be Men with Capital 'M'
ONCE, while I was conversing with a great Sadhu, the subject of frequent student strikes came up. The Sadhu remarked, "students are feds with thoughts that they pillars of the nation, the leaders of tomorrow and so on. This, coupled with their natural immaturity, has made them swollen-headed. The right attitude to be inculcated in the young minds is of selfless service, where ego has no chance to raise its ugly head. Too much pampering has only roused their ego which makes them rise in revolt and indulge in strikes and violence at the slightest touch of injustice or insult, imaginary or otherwise."
Listening to those wise words of the Sadhu, I co-related with Sri Ramakrishna’s life incident. Once some of his disciples were talking about helping the poor, showing compassion to them and so on. Sri Ramakrishna came there in a God-intoxicated mood and admonished them saying, "Who are you to show compassion to them? Who are you to help them? They are the living manifestations of Narayana himself. So you can only serve them".
Be a Foundation - Stone
This attitude will generate in us the spirit of true selfless service and take us a long way in giving purity, humility and strength to our character and save us from swollenheadedness, which is the first step to degeneration. Let the stone in the foundation be our ideal. It lies there unseen, unadmired. It may not be beautiful, may not be polished; but all the same it is the base. If it moves or is shaken, the whole edifice crumbles down. That should be the spirit with which we have to work among the people.
True Service
The great men of our land have always upheld the spirit of service as the highest expression of devotion to God. One such great soul has prayed to Almighty-
न त्वहम् कामये राज्यम् न स्वर्गम् न पुनर्गवम्। कामये दु:खतप्तानम् प्राणिनामाणतगनाशनम्।।
na tvaham kāmaye rājyam na svargam na punarbhavam। kāmaye du:khataptānam prāṇināmārtināśanām।।
न तो मुझे राज्य की कामना है और न ही स्वर्ग चाणहए,
न ही पुनर्गन्म चाणहए। मुझे तो दु:ख में र्लते हुए प्राणियोों की पीडा का नाश करने की शक्ति चाणहए।
(I desire neither kingdom nor heaven nor salvation. All that I desire is to remove the sorrows and miseries of living beings.)
This is the true spirit of service. The constant prayer of such a person is for greater strength and capacity to serve. His fulfillment in life is that he has offered in service all that God has bestowed upon him. He says, "Oh, God! I have emptied the jholi (bag) of my life at Thy feet, and therein lies the fullness of my life".
Swami Vivekananda used to say, "Be ready to bear everything for the sake of the people like the great Guru Govind Singh. After having shed his blood and the blood of his nearest and dearest, he retired from the field calmly to die in the South but not a word of curse escaped his lips against those who had ungratefully forsaken him!"
Such is the true servant of society who seeks not anything in return for himself but finds the joy of fulfillment in having suffered and sacrificed for the good of society.
Even while wiping the tears of sorrow of others, the feelings of elation or self-gratification does not enter such minds. Such perversions enter when there is no real identification with the sufferings of others.
Symbols of Self-reliance
The spirit of humility and service need not make us loose our self-reliance and self-confidence. All our great men have been an embodiment of the blend of the two virtues. In fact, the two qualities are like the two faces of a coin.
Mahadev Govind Ranade, a scholar of great note in Maharashtra was a destitute in his early life. In his school days he would go to Madhukari (receiving food from a few homes) which was then considered honorable. He would sit in temples under an oil lamp and study. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, one of our greatest educationists from Bengal, was also very poor. It was monetarily hard enough for him even to complete Matriculation. Then he took up a job and out of his meagre earnings continued his college studies. Self-reliance was the watchword that made these stalwarts rise to such heights of scholarship.
Then we have the inspiring example of Swami Ramatirtha born in an extremely poor family. He was married early and after his completing Matriculation his father wanted him to take a job and maintain the family. But he had resolved to continue his studies. He left home with his wife after conflict with father. Ramatirtha rented a small room and became a part-time tutor in a school and joined the college. Further, as a student with all injunctions enjoined on a brahmachari, he cooked food for himself and his wife and began teaching her too. He took Sanskrit for B.A and came out in first class. Such are the towering personalities who rose to sublime heights of achievement on the strength of their will and determination, which carried them through all obstacles and adversities.
Truly has it been said, "Self-help is the best help". Once a villager was driving his bullock cart to a neighboring village. On the way the wheels got stuck in the mud. A person passing that way saw him sitting with folded hands bewailing his lot. He asked the villager to get up and put his shoulders to the wheel along with him. The cart came out of the mud in no time; then he went his way telling the villager, "God helps those who help themselves."
Curse of 'Careerism'
Our educated young men hanker after easy jobs and easier money.
Let us not become 'careerists' hankering after easy money, less effort and more comfort. Such unmanliness ill behoves the educated young men of a land, which has produced a Ramatirtha and a Vidyasagar. Let us build our life on those inspiring models blending the spirit of service with self-respect and humility with self-confidence. All our latent virtues and energies will then blossom into a beautiful and fragrant flower of heroic manhood.
Tall Talking, Low Living
Now, how are we to manifest this spirit of selfless service and other virtues in our actual life? What is that inspiring object to which we are to offer our worship and service? Is it 'humanity'? Unless we are properly trained so as to meet the challenges we cannot stand the test of harsh reality. Once I came across a young man who wanted to learn wrestling. But when he was asked to take off his clothes, he exclaimed, "Taking off the clothes and wrestling! No! No! If there is anything like wrestling with all my clothes on, then only I can". So I asked him to wrestle with mosquitoes! This is what happens to those who speak of high ideals like serving humanity. When they come face to face with its severe demands they turn back and invariably end in inactivity.
The Golden Mean
The other extreme swing of the pendulum to which people go is the mentality of "I and my family, that is all." Once a leading advocate of a place asked me, "If I cannot think of humanity why should I not think of only my family?" I replied, "Our national prosperity and happiness were razed to dust when we thought of Brahma satyam jaganmithya only on a superficial plane. Similar fate overtook us when we were immersed only in our narrow personal and family life. So, both these extremes - ativyapti and avyapti - must be avoided and a middle path adopted. We get that balance, that perfect poise of mind, when we take up the golden mean between the two extremes, in the form of 'nation'.
Reactionary 'Progressives'
Hence, the one idea, which can inspire us all to dedicate ourselves, is 'service to our nation'. That will satisfy both the aspects of a practical ideal - the sense of realism and the sense of idealism.
It is well known that the spirit of service will be generated only towards the object of our love, pride and adoration. The first and foremost training that we must impart to our minds is, therefore, the inculcation of feelings of intense love, pride and adoration for our national life in its manifold aspects - its religion, history, heritage, philosophy of life, aspirations, points of faith and honour.
Must we substitute tube-light for the sun because the sun is old, indeed very old, and tube-light a recent device to dispel darkness?
To condemn things as useless and retrograde simply because they are old would amount to accepting the worst type of slavery - the slavery of the intellect.
Mental Slavery
The second factor, which has added to this weakness of mind, is the sense of inferiority complex that we suffer in relation to the Westerners. How did this happen? The reason is simple and lies in the common human weakness of associating good qualities with wealth and power. A famous saying in Sanskrit –
यस्याक्ति णवत्तों स नरः कु लीनः स पक्तितः स श्रुणतमान र्ुिज्ञः स एव विा स च दशगनीयः सवे र्ुिाः काञ्चनमाश्र्यक्ति
Yasyaastu vittam sa narah kuleenah, sa panditah sa shrutimaan gunagyah. Sa eva waktaa sa cha darshneyah, sarve gunah kaanchanmahrayanti i.e. If a person is rich, he is treated like an aristocrat . He is also treated like a virtuous scholar well versed in scriptures, also supposed to be an orator with an impressive personality (even if he may not possess any of these qualities). This is not unusual as all these virtues are servile to Gold.
describes how the human mind naturally attributes all virtues, learning, wisdom and great lineage to the possessor of riches and power.
No wonder that such 'educated' men found no difficulty in gulping down the extraordinary absurdity cleverly propagated by the foreigner that at the root of our defeat and degeneration lay our way of life.
Animality Supplants Divinity
This attitude of base imitation had a disastrous effect on our national life. It changed our very life attitudes. As we know, imitation implies a complete absence of one's inherent genius and originality in one's outlook of life. Firstly, it resulted in our forsaking the noble ideals of self-sacrifice and self-restraint in a mad rush to embrace the Western life pattern of enjoyment and satiation of pleasures of the flesh. Western life is, after all, extrovert. Earthly enjoyment is its highest ideal. Their concept of individual freedom lies in allowing the senses full licence to have an unbridled sway over the mind, thereby making a slave of oneself to the brute instinct. We also, in our wild-goose chase of the white man's ideals, echoed his slogan of 'raising the standard of life', which simply means increasing our slavery to material things in life or, in other words, increasing slavery of man to the brute. It is this glorification of animality that has resulted in all-round selfishness and jealousy. The youth of today is getting infatuated with but one dream in life - of maximum pleasures and enjoyment.
Procrustean Bed of Politics
Secondly, having lost the cultural essence of our national existence, we fell a prey to the superficial view of looking upon politics, as the pivot of life. In fact, life was equated with politics and accordingly our dharma, our language and even our history were altered to suit the fleeting shims of political exigencies. After all, politics is described as –
वाराोंर्नेव नृपनीणतरनेकरूपा ।
varaangneva nrupanithir aneka roopa
-changing its hue and shade every now and then. It is only an arrangement, a means to serve social life. But external arrangement is not all, is not life. However, in our case the 'means' was mistaken for the 'end'. Man wears clothes according to the needs of the body. He does not cut up his body according to size of the clothes!
There is a story of a robber by name Procrustes who used to invite an unwary guest to his forest-house and ask him to rest on a cot. If the guest was longer than the cot, the robber used to chop off his extra length, and if shorter, he was elongated forcibly! That was the novel technique the robber employed to murder persons. Similarly are our leaders hammering and straining the body of our nation to adjust it to the bed of politics with the inevitable result that our age-old social life has fallen into a perilous plight.
It is well known that each family has its own deity. Some worship Rama, some Bhavani and some others Shankara as their Chosen Deity. If in the place some evil spirit or a fallen soul is installed nothing short of total perdition awaits such a family.
'Swa' in Swatantrya
How can we call it swatantrata (freedom) which has no swa (our genius) in it? Then it is only para-tantrata. In fact, protection and propagation of our national life-values, i.e., our dharma and samskriti, have always been held in our historical tradition as the raison d'etre of swatantrata.
A wheel, in order to rotate, must have its pivot inside. If that pivot is outside the wheel, it cannot rotate.
We have to shake ourselves free from these shackles of inferiority complex and imitation. It does not mean that we should not take what is good in other countries otherwise our fate will be like that of a person who is unable to digest the food thrust into his belly, and is sinking under its load.
Body without a Soul
We often show utter lack of national self-respect, abject slavery of the mind if we do not respect local language!
Need to boycott foreign goods wherever possible except for certain military equipment for our armies, and medicines. The costly game of cricket can be avoided, and we can play Kabaddi, our national game, which has been acclaimed as a great game
If we ignored the spirit of national pride and patriotism and sacrificed the spirit of swadeshi we are inviting decay and disaster in every field of our national life.
This corrosion of our national soul has not spared even marriage which is considered a dharmic ceremony. The is no future for a nation, which does violence to itself losing faith in its own way of life.
Our forefathers were great, commanding the respect of the world, because they were conscious of their great national ideals and their national self-respect. They would address the world in a tone of quiet confidence born out of the consciousness of their intrinsic greatness. The very term Arya, which they applied to themselves conveyed culture and character.
They had proudly declared:
न त्वेवायगस्य दासर्ावः ।
(The Arya shall never be a slave.) They announced:
एतद्देशप्रसूतस्य सकाशादग्रर्न्मनः ।
स्वों स्वों चररत्रों णशक्षेरन् पृणिव्ााँ सवगमानवाः ।।
(Let men all over the world, learn their lessons in life sitting at the feet of the first-born of this land.)
Such an intense love and pride in our own national life and ideals alone can protect the true and glowing image of our country before the world today. This flame of pure patriotism needs to be lit in the heart of every son of this soil. And the warmth and effulgence of such hearts shall dispel the darkness of intellectual imbecility enveloping our country. Let us, with firm realization, step on the path of national rejuvenation. Many considered RSS people were 'fanatically patriotic'! We do not know what made him say like that. But so far as we are concerned, we feel that there are no gradations in desha-bhakti, i.e., patriotism. Bhakti is self-surrender, it is dedicating oneself completely and unreservedly without any thought of the self. Real devotion can never be half-way. Probably they require gradations in patriotism - warm, lukewarm, and cold! Those who dare to drink to the full the cup of devotion need not be afraid or misled by such words as 'fanatical'. Let us challengingly say, "Yes, we are building that intense white heat of patriotism”.
Springs of National Glory
The selfless, self-confident and devoted, proud of their national ethos, made our nation rise from a heap of shambles, serve and elevate society giving up all thought of personal comforts and enjoyments. They were the embodiment of the spirit of selfless service, sacrifice and character, bringing about the welfare of the common people. They would mix, share joys and sorrows, try to alleviate and infuse higher values of life. They - intelligent, the self-sacrificing hearts - were the pinnacles from which the streams of cultural and spiritual values flowed and permeated all levels of our society. They formed the perennial life-springs, that made, both these streams, i.e., of cultural sublimity and physical prosperity, flow to the brim in national life and made our nation a treasure-house of material and spiritual glory.
Mother Wants
Let us re-live great ideals with national pride, living and breathing the grand ideas of service, self-reliance and dedication to motherland to ward off the grave perils threatening our country from inside and outside.
Real men thank God that during their sojourn here they are faced with hardships, scarcity, adversity and trouble, through which they have to struggle on to prosperity. In adverse circumstances we get an opportunity to put forth the best in us, to test our manliness and to stand before the world as a colossal personality full of grandeur with a chance to rise beyond the highest flights of human imagination.
Today, more than anything else, Mother needs such men - young, intelligent, dedicated and more than all virile and masculine. When Narayana-eternal knowledge- and Nara eternal manliness- combine, victory is ensured. And such are the men who make history - men with capital 'M'.
http://www.golwalkarguruji.org/encyc/2017/10/16/BeMenwithCapitalM.html
20th Feb Charcha: One Nation One Election
This year has a series of Assembly elections lined up, with several political analysts calling it “semi-finals” before the Lok Sabha polls in 2024. The Assembly elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur.
In this backdrop, We see a real need for ‘One Nation One Election’. We cannot afford to subject the entire country to such disruptive agitations for electoral benefits every now and then. After all, every year, there are elections in one state or the other.
From past few years it is observed that election take place frequently in some states of India. According to NITI Aayog, In the last 30 years, there has not been a single year without an election to either a State Assembly or to Lok Sabha or both. On the 73rd Independence Day, The Prime Minister of India invited heads of all political parties to a meeting on 19th June, 2019 to discuss the one nation, one election idea and other important matters. Again recently, the Prime Minister of India has addressed the concluding session of the 80 All India Presiding Officers Conference via videoconference, at Kevadiya (Gujarat) on the occasion of Constitution Day (26 November). He raised the pitch for ‘One Nation, One Election’ and a single voter list for all polls.
What is One Nation One Election ?
The idea of One Nation One Election is about structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner such that elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies are synchronized together. General elections for the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are held at the gap of 5 years in India. But in addition to this; elections for the different State Assemblies are held in some states separately which put huge burden on the government exchequer.
History of One Nation One Election
But if you think that the idea of One Nation One Election is new for India then you are wrong because One Nation One Election is not a unique experiment in our country. Simultaneous elections have been conducted for the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies simultaneously in India in 1952, 1957, 1962 and 1967. This practice was discontinued in 1968-69, because some Legislative Assemblies were dissolved earlier due to various reasons. Since then India is trying hard to adopt the old election system but there is no consensus among the political parties.
Advantages of One Nation One Election
(i) Improvement in Economy with Money Saved:
The biggest logic in the favour of the simultaneous election is the saving of government money. If the country goes for One Nation One Election it will saving of huge Government money.
- When the first elections to the Lok Sabha took place in 1951-52, 53 parties contested the elections, around 1874 candidates participated and poll expenses were 11 crore.
- In 2019 elections, there were 610 political parties, around 9,000 candidates and poll expenses of around 60,000 crore rupees (declared by ADR) are yet to be declared by the political parties.
- the Law Commission of India estimated the cost of buying enough EVMs would be to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore – in the long run, this cost will even out, say those pro-ONE NATION ONE ELECTION (On a different note the 2019 election spending is roughly $8.5 billion. The combined presidential and Congressional election in the US in 2016 was $6.5 billion.)
Will Help Speed up Development Work
Code of Conduct during election period is imposed and it happens every now and then in one or other state. When the Model Code of Conduct is in force, new projects for public welfare cannot be launched. Accordingly, one time election will ensure continuity in policies, projects and programs of the central and state governments. So one time election will ensure continuity in policies and programs of the central and state governments.
Getting Rid of False Promises
Vote bank appeasement becomes the buzz word during elections. With elections around the corner, most political parties’ resort to contrivances to win or devastate reputation of different parties. They devise strategies just those which would win a bit leeway for the vote bank and help in winning elections.
Challenges
The term of the Lok Sabha and that of the State Legislative Assemblies needs to be synchronized so that the election to both can be held within a given span of time. For instance, the term of the present Lok Sabha will go up to 2024, but elections to some of the legislative assembly had already taken place last year (for e.g. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and some are due this year (for e.g. Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand), resulting in different dates of completion of the term. To sync the term of the State Legislative Assemblies with that of the Lok Sabha, the term of the state legislative assemblies can be reduced and increased accordingly and for the same, constitutional amendment would be needed in :
Constitutional Amendments needed for simultaneous Elections:
The term of the Lok Sabha and that of the State Legislative Assemblies needs to be synchronized so that the election to both can be held within a given span of time. For instance, the term of the present Lok Sabha will go up to 2024, but elections to some of the legislative assembly had already taken place last year (for e.g. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and some are due this year (for e.g. Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand), resulting in different dates of completion of the term.
There needs to be a consensus on whether the country needs one nation one poll or not. All political parties should at least cooperate in debating this issue, once the debate starts, the public opinion can be taken into consideration. India being a mature democracy, can then follow the outcome of the debate.
References:
https://www.drishtiias.com/pdf/1606473821-pm-on-one-nation-one-election.pdf
27th Feb Katha: Guru Ravidas
Shri Guru Sant Ravidas Ji was a great saint, philosopher, poet, social reformer, and follower of God in India during the 15th century. He was one of the most famous and leading stars of the nirguna sampradaya (sant parampara) and was one of the prominent leaders of the North Indian Bhakti movement. He had given a variety of spiritual and social messages through his great writings of poetry to his lovers, followers, and peoples of the society to reform their minds and show their boundless love towards God.
He was like a messiah in order to complete the social and spiritual needs of people. He was a spiritually rich person and was also worshipped by people. They use to listen to him and use to recite his great songs, Padas and etc at every morning and evening, on his birthday anniversary celebration, or any religious events celebration. He is loved and respected all over the world however the most respected regions were Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Maharashtra for his Bhakti movement and devotional songs.
Early Life
Guru, Sant Ravidas Ji was born in Varanasi to Kalsa Devi Ji and Baba Santokh Dass Ji in the Seer Goverdhanpur village, Varanasi, U.P., India in the 15th century. However, his real birth date is still controversial because some people estimate it was 1376, 1377 and even 1399 CE. According to the data by some scholars it has been estimated that his lifespan was from 1450-1520 in 15th to 16th century CE.
His father was working as a Sarpanch at Raja Nagar Mal’s Kingdom and has his own business of shoemaking and repairing. His birthday anniversary is celebrated at every Puran Mashi (Magh Purnima) of the Magh month by the people. He was very brave and highly devoted to God from his early childhood later he struggled with lots of problems created by upper caste people which he faced and let people realize about facts of life through his writings. He taught people that always love their neighbors without any discrimination.
His birth anniversary is still celebrated by his great followers to remember his great teachings as well as renew the establishment of peace and brotherhood all over the world. During the early days of his teachings, his popularity was prohibited by the conservative Brahmins living in Kashi as he was also an untouchable guru. People complained regarding him in front of the king as a deformer of the social order. He was prohibited to talk about God and as well as advising or teaching people following him.
Education
In his childhood, he went to the Pathshala of his Guru, Pt. Sharda Nand who was later restricted by some higher caste people to teach in the Pathshala. However, Pt. Sharda Nand realized that Ravidas is a child boy and sent by God as a godly boy. Pt. Sharda Nand admitted Ravidas to his own Pathshala and started teaching him. He was a very brilliant and promising student and got more than what he was taught by his Guru. Pt. Sharda Nand was very much influenced by him and his behavior and he thought that one-day Ravidas would be spiritually enlightened and will become a great social reformer.
During his studies at Pathshala, he became a good friend of Pt. Sharda Nand’s son. One day both of them were playing a game called hide and seek. In the first part, Ravidas Ji won the game and in the second part, his friend won the game. On the next turn, it was the time of Ravidas to seek again but they were unable to complete the game because it was quite dark, they decided to continue the game the next morning. The next morning Guru Ravidas Ji came but his friend did not. He waited for a long time and then went to his friend’s home to get him and saw that his friend’s parents and neighbors were weeping.
He asked about his friend to one of them and surprised when he came to know about his death last night. He was brought by the Pt. Sharda Nand near the dead body of his friend, he asked his friend that it is not sleeping time, it is time to get up and play the game of ‘hide and seek’. As Guru Ravidas Ji was blessed by the spiritual powers from birth, his friend got alive after hearing his words. The parents and neighbors of his friend were very surprised to see all this.
Marriage Life
His love and devotion towards God were one of the main reasons for his distraction from his professional family business life and his parents were worried too worried about him. Regarding this, he was set to get married by his parents in order to get engaged in the family profession of shoemaking and repairing. Then he got married to Smt. Lona Devi in his early age and got a son called Vijaydas.
Even after his marriage, he was not able to completely concentrate on his family business because of his less interest in worldly affairs. For his such behavior, he was one day separated from his house by his father to go away and manage his all social affairs without taking help from his family. Then he started living in the backyard of his own house and get involved completely in social matters. He was not given any support by his family but he continued his work of Seva. Whatever meagre he earned from his shoe-making he used to spend on serving holy men and helping the needy.
Later Life
Later in his life, he became a great follower of Lord Rama and started following some names like Ram, Raghunath, Raja Ram Chanda, Krishna, Hari, Gobind, and etc in order to express his feeling towards God.
Other Life Incidents
Once, some of his disciples and followers asked him to take the holy dip in the sacred river of Ganges but he denied it by saying that he had already promised to one of his customers to deliver shoes so he would not be able to join them. One of his disciples urged him repeatedly then he answered his beliefs about common saying “Man changa to kathoti mein Ganga” means our body needs to be holy by soul not by just taking bath into the holy river, if our soul and heart is pure and happy then we are completely holy even after taking bath in the water-filled in a tub at home.
Once he saved the life of his Brahman friend from being killed by the hungry lion. He became a close friend of one of the Brahman boys while playing together however other Brahman people were jealous of their friendship and complained to the king. His Brahman friend was called by the king in the court and announced to be killed by a hungry lion. As soon as the hungry lion came to him to kill Brahman boy, the lion became very calm by seeing Guru Ravidas Ji near his friend. Lion moves away and Guru Ravidas Ji and he brought his Brahman friend to his home. Brahman people and king were very ashamed off and realized about the spiritual power of the Guru Ravidas Ji and they started following him.
His Involvement in Social Issues
He was a true messenger of God and he came on earth when it was necessary to save the real Dharma as at that time when social and religious patterns were distressing because of the lots of manmade discriminations over social beliefs, caste, color, and etc. He bravely faced all the discriminations and answered people about the real definition and beliefs of castes. He taught people that one is not known by his caste, religion, or believes in God, he is known only for his great actions (or karma). He also worked against the system of untouchability in the society by the higher caste people for lower caste people.
During his time, low caste people were neglected and were not allowed to do some common jobs in the society of higher caste people such as inhibited to go to the temples for prayer, inhibited to go to schools for study, restricted to visit the village during the daytime, they were allowed to live in huts instead of a proper house in the village and many more. After seeing such a social scenario, Guruji started giving spiritual messages to everybody in order to permanently tackle the bad situations of low caste people.
Reference:1) https://www.varanasi.org.in/ravidas 2)Bhaktamal book
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