Analyse, with illustrations, why Bhaktland Sufi thinkers adopted a variety of languages in which to express their opinions.

The Bhakti and Sufi thinkers used the languages of the common people to expressh their opinions. They often spoke in local languages. So they were well-understood by the common people. Had they used a few distinct languages, they would not have reached to all the people. They would have gone extinct. Hence their use of the local languages proved very significant.

(i) Sanskrit was used by traditional Bhakti saints to sing hymns at different occasions, places of worship and ceremonies.

(ii) The Alvars and Nayanars of Tamil Nadu travelled from place to place singing hymns in Tamil in praise of their Gods. These developed as centres of pilgrimage. Singing compositions of these poet-saints became part of temple rituals in these shrines, as did worship of the saint images.

(iii) Kabir’s poems have survived in several languages and dialects, and some are composed in the special language of nirguna poets, the sant bhasha. Others, known as ulatbansi (upside-down sayings), are written in a form in which everyday meanings are inverted.

(iv)    Baba Guru Nanak, Baba Farid, Ravidas (Raidas), composed their hymns in various languages such as Punjabi and Hindi etc.

(v)    Amir Khusrau wrote and sang in Hindavi or Persian, Punjabi, Urdu and some other form oflanguages.

(vi)    It was not just in sama that the Chishtis adopted local languages. In Delhi, those associated with the Chishti Silsila conversed in Hindavi, the language of the people. Other sufis such as Baba Farid composed verses in the local languages, which were incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib.

(vii)    Other writers, thinkers, saints etc. composed long poems or masnavis to express ideas of divine love using human love as an allegory. For example, the prem-akhyan (love story) Padmavat composed by Malik Muhammad Jayasi revolved around the romance of Padmini and Ratansen, the king of Chittor. Their trials were symbolic of the soul’s journey to the divine. Such poetic compositions were often recited in hospices, usually during sama.

(viii) The poets of Bigapur and Karnatana wrote short poems in Dakhani, a variant of Urdu.