Sant Ravidās
c. 15th–16th century · Vārāṇasī · Nirguṇa bhakti
Ravidās (Raidās) was a cobbler of Vārāṇasī, from a community of leather-workers then treated as untouchable. Through his songs and his life he taught that devotion and a pure heart, not birth, make a person holy. Forty of his hymns are in the Guru Granth Sahib, and tradition counts Mīrābāī among his disciples.
He sang of Begampurā, a city “without sorrow”, where no one is second-class and no one suffers. His saying “man caṅgā to kaṭhautī meṁ Gaṅgā” — if the mind is pure, the Gaṅgā is in your washing-bowl — is a proverb across North India. The Ravidāsia community and many others honour him.
Vārāṇasī · 40 hymns in Guru Granth Sahib · Begampurā · Ravidās Jayantī (Māgha Pūrṇimā)