Important Questions: Devotional Paths to the Divine | Social Studies (SST) Class 7 PDF Download

Q2: What were the teachings of Ramanuja?
Ans: Ramanuja was born in Tamil Nadu in the eleventh century. He was deeply influenced by the Alvars. He was an exponent of the doctrine of Vishistadavita or qualified non-dualism. He advocated that the best means of attaining salvation was through intense devotion to Vishnu. According to Ramanuja's teachings, Lord Narayana or Bhagavan is the Supreme Being. He believed that Vishnu helped devotees to attain the bliss of union with Him. Later his teachings inspired the Bhakti cult in North India.

Q3: Write a short note on Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis.
Ans: A number of religious groups criticized the rituals and other aspects of conventional religion and preached the social order using simple logical arguments. They advocated renunciation of the world. To achieve the salvation, they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yogasanas. They became popular among low castes in North India.

Q4: Who ordered the execution of Guru Arjan and why?
Ans: The Mughal emperor Jahangir ordered the execution of Guru Arjan Dev. By the beginning of the seventeenth century, the town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) developed around the central Gurdwara, also called Harmandar Sahib (Golden Temple). It was like a state with self-governing. The Mughal emperor saw this development as a potential threat against his rule. So he ordered the execution.

Q5: How did Khalsa Panth emerged?
Ans: The Sikh movement began to get politicized in the seventeenth century. Development culminated in the institution of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. Thus, the community of the Sikhs called the Khalsa Panth came into existence as a political entity.

Q6: Write in brief about the Virashaiva movement.
Ans: The Virashaiva movement was initiated by Basavanna and his companions like Allama Prabhu and Akkamahadevi. This movement began in Karnataka in the mid-twelfth century. The Virashaivas argued strongly for the equality of all human beings and against Brahmanical ideas about caste and the treatment of women. They also rejected all forms of rituals and worship.

Q7: Mention different new ideas that began to develop during the medieval period.
Ans: The medieval period witnessed the development of many new ideas of the Supreme God. Some were widely accepted while some were rejected.

Q8: Explain the teachings of Guru Nanak.

Ans: The ideas of Guru Nanak had a huge impact on people from the very beginning.

Q10: Who were the Nayanars and Alvars? What did they preach?
Ans: The new religious movements that began in the seventh to ninth centuries were led by the Nayanars and Alvars. The Nayanar saints were devoted to Shiva and the Alvar saints were devoted to Vishnu. Both came from all castes including those considered untouchables like the Pulaiyar and the Panars. They preached ardent love of Shiva or Vishnu as the path to salvation. They drew upon the ideals of love and heroism and blended them with the values of bhakti. The Nayanars and Alvars went from place to place composing beautiful poems in praise of the deities enshrined in the villages they visited and set them to music.

Q11: Write a short note on Shankara and his teachings.
Ans: Shankara was one of the most popular religious philosophers of India born in Kerala. He was the expounder of the concept of Advaita which is the doctrine of oneness of the individual soul and the supreme god. He was a fully developed Yogi, Jnani and Bhakta. He believed that Brahman alone is real, this world is unreal. He considered the world as Maya or an illusion. He preached renunciation of the world and adoption of the path of knowledge.

Q12: Describe the beliefs and practices of the Nathpanthis, Siddhas and Yogis.
Ans: The Nathpanthis, Siddhacharas and Yogis were against conventional religion and social order. They advocated renunciation of the world. To them the path to salvation lay in meditation on the formless Ultimate Reality and the realisation of oneness with it. To achieve this they advocated intense training of the mind and body through practices like yogasanas, breathing exercises and meditation. They became particularly popular among low castes.

Q13: Who were Sufis?
Ans: Sufis were Muslim mystics. They rejected outward religiosity and emphasized love and devotion to God and compassion towards all fellow human beings. They condemned the elaborate rituals and codes of behaviour demanded by Muslim religious scholars. They also composed poems expressing their feelings.

Q14: Who was Martin Luther? How did he view the Roman Catholic Church?
Ans: Martin Luther was one of the most important leaders of the changes that took place within Christianity. Luther felt that several practices in the Roman Catholic Church went against the teachings of the Bible.

Q15: When did local myths become a part of the Puranic stories?
Ans: When gods and goddess were identified with Shiva, the local myths and legends became part of the Puranic stories and the methods of worship introduced in the Puranas were followed for the local gods and goddesses.