Kabir’s line captures the place of Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Ji Maharaj in awakening the consciousness of the Bhakti era. AdvertisementModernity is often confused with Western influence, but the seeds of Indian modernity lie in the Bhakti movement, especially the teachings of Ravidas. To speak of equality in a society divided by jati and varna, and to carry spiritual democracy into social equality, was the movement’s greatest achievement. Ravidas did not confine himself to individual liberation; in conceiving Begumpura, he left a standard against which any state may be measured. Ravidas closes by naming himself and his caste without apology: Whoever is a citizen of this city is a friend of mine.