Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms
Defined in English (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1989); Arthur Berriedale Keith, Classical
Sanskrit Literature (Calcutta: Y. M. C. A. Publishing
House, 1947); ———, A History of Sanskrit Literature
(London: Oxford University Press, 1920); Diana Mor-
rison, A Glossary of Sanskrit from the Spiritual Tradition
of India (Petaluma, Calif.: Nilgiri Press, 1977); Sheldon
Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History: Reconstruc-
tions from South Asia (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 2003); M. N. Srinivas, The Cohesive Role of San-
skritization and Other Essays (Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1989); Judith M. Tyberg, The Language of the
Gods: Sanskrit Keys to India’s Wisdom (Los Angeles:
East-West Cultural Centre, 1970).
Sant Mat
The Sant Mat (View of the Saints) was a het-
erogeneous group of travelling poet-saints dat-
ing from the 14th to 17th centuries who had a
profound impact on the religion of northern and
central India. These poets included KABIR, Surdas,
TUKARAM, and Ravidas. Their most important
characteristics were a desire for social reform and
a criticism of ritualism and caste. They stressed
that the pursuit of spirituality was not limited to
religion. The search for truth could be guided by
any authentic experience of the One, however
defined.
These teachers often ignored religious bound-
aries and mingled easily with Muslim Sufis. The
Sant spirit was carried forward in the Sikh tradi-
tion by GURU NANAK, who had gone on pilgrim-
age and on the Hajj to show that the true God
belonged to no particular religion. The Kabir tra-
dition, in particular, has survived to the present,
although it does not have the creative vigor and
openness it once had; it seems to have become
another sect of Hinduism.
Further reading: Daniel Gold, The Lord as Guru: Hindi
Saints in North Indian Tradition (New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1987); David N. Lorenzen, ed., Religious
Movements in South Asia 600–1800 (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2004); Karine Schomer and W. H.
McCleod, eds., The Sant Tradition of India (Berkeley:
Berkeley Religious Studies Series and Motilal Banarsi-
dass, 1987).Sant Mat movement (est. 1861)
The Sant Mat movement, also known as the
RADHASOAMI MOVEMENT, emerged in the middle of
the 19th century in the Punjab, as one of several
movements that sought to revitalize the Sikh
community after its government was defeated
and replaced by the British. The new movement
was introduced by Shiv Dayal Singh (1818–78),
generally known as Soami Ji, and was distinctive
because its leader was a living master, a person
serving as an initiating GURU (a structure previ-
ously foreign to SIKHISM).
The new guru aimed to teach his followers
surat shabd (sound current) yoga, as a technique
to overcome kal, the negative forces that rule this
world, and contact the divine. God had created
the world by his word; therefore, through the
repetition of MANTRAS (japa yoga), humans could
establish contact with God. Soami Ji’s teachings
resonated with devotion to the name of God
(bhakti nam), which had always been important
in the Sikh tradition.
Shiv Dayal Singh introduced surat shabd yoga
in 1861 at Agra, Uttar Pradesh, in northern India.
He initiated some 4,000 people and then passed
leadership to Rai Salig Ram (1829–98). At the
same time, he also sent Jaimal Singh (1838–1903)
to spread the movement in the Punjab.
The relocation of Jaimal Singh to Beas in the
Punjab divided the movement; the Beas center
became the larger of the two. Jaimal Singh’s
successor, Sawan Singh (1858–1948), built the
Beas branch into the largest of what by then had
become several segments of the original move-
ment. He initiated over 125,000 people. However,
his career was eclipsed by that of one of the 20th-
century Beas leaders, Charan Singh (1916–90),Sant Mat movement 383 J