Bhagat is a term used in the Indian subcontinent to describe religious personalities who have obtain high acclaim in their community for their services and devoutness. It is also one of the clan in Mahar caste with clan totem as King Cobra[1] and also a surname found among Marathas, Bania communities and Punjabi Brahmins.
Bhagat is a Hindi and Punjabi word derived from the Sanskrit word Bhagavat, भगवत् , which means glorious (source: Monier-Williams Dictionary), and is used as an epithet for Vishnu or Krishna. Bhagat in Hindi and means pious as an adjective, a devotee of a deity as a noun (source: Shabdkosh online Punjabi and Hindi dictionaries). Bhagat is also a Hindu, Buddhist and Jain surname, found in various communities though it is most prevalent in the northern states of India.
Sikhism's central scriptural book, Guru Granth Sahib, has teachings of 15 Bhagats, along with bani of Sikh Gurus, Bhats and Gursikhs. Because Sikhism believes in one human creed (no one belongs to a higher or a lower social status or caste) and that accounts to adding Bani of various authors, a total of 36, in Guru Granth Sahib irrespective of many belonging to religions other than Sikhism. Religious writings of those Bhagats were collected by Guru Arjan. Some of them lived before Guru Nanak, but came to have a monotheistic as opposed to a polytheistic doctrine.
Broadly speaking, therefore, a Bhagat is a holy person or a member of a community whose objectives involve leading humanity towards God and highlighting injustices in the world.
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