Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, and poet (1533?1599)
This article is about the 16th century CE spiritual figure. For the 20th century CE spiritual teacher, see
Eknath Easwaran
.
Eknath
|
---|
Eknath on a 2003 stamp of India
|
|
Born
| 1533
|
---|
Died
| 1599
(1599-00-00)
(aged 65?66)
|
---|
Religion
| Hinduism
|
---|
Parents
| - Suryanarayan (father)
- Rukminibai (mother)
|
---|
|
Philosophy
| Advaita
,
Varkari
|
---|
|
Literary works
| Eknathi Bhagavata
,
Bhavarth Ramayan
,
Rukmini Swayamwar Hastamalak
,
Shukashtak
,
Swatma-Sukha
,
Ananda-Lahari
,
Chiranjeewa-Pad
,
Geeta-Saar
and
Prahlad-Vijaya
|
---|
Honors
| Sant
(Saint)
|
---|
Eknath
(
IAST
: Eka-n?tha,
Marathi
pronunciation:
[eknath]
) (1533?1599),
[1]
was an Indian
Hindu
saint, philosopher and poet. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity
Vitthal
and is a major figure of the
Warkari
movement. Eknath is often viewed as a spiritual successor to the prominent Marathi saints
Dnyaneshwar
and
Namdev
.
Biography
[
edit
]
Precise details of his life remain obscure. It is generally believed that Eknath lived during the latter three-quarters of the 16th-century. He was born into a
Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin
family of
Vishwamitra
gotra to Suryanarayan and Rukmini Bai at Paithan, present-day Maharashtra and was a follower of the Ashvalayana Sutra. His father probably held the title of
Kulkarni
and kept financial accounts. Their family deity is
Ekvira
Devi (or Renuka).
[1]
His parents died while Eknath was young. He was then raised by his grandfather, Chakrapani. His great-grandfather
Bhanudas
was another revered saint of the
Warkari
sect.
Eknath was a disciple of
Janardan Swami
[4]
who was a devotee of the Hindu deity
Dattatreya
. He was against caste distinctions and spread the message that there was no distinction in God’s eyes between Brahmin and outcaste or between Hindu and Muslim.
Eknath's
samadhi
shrine is located at Paithan near the
Godavari
river. Celebrations commemorating Eknath are held every year around the month of March at Paithan.
[5]
Literary contribution
[
edit
]
Eknath was a creative person, who utilized his literary skills to compose religious work in
vernacular
Marathi language
, promoting local devotional religious practice, and opposing the suppressive caste-system propagated by the elite
Brahmins
.
Eknath's writings include a variation of the Hindu religious text
Bhagavata Purana
,
known as
Eknathi Bhagavata
.
[6]
He also wrote a variation of the Hindu epic
Ramayana
,
known as
Bhavarth Ramayan
. He also composed
Rukmini Swayamwar
Hastamalak
, a literary piece consisting of 764
owee
(poetic metre) and based on a
Sanskrit
hymn of the same name. He has also tried to shift the emphasis of Marathi literature from spiritual to narrative composition and introduced a new form of Marathi religious song called Bharood.
His other literary works include
Shukashtak
(447
owee
),
https://shikshaved.com/category/marathi-essay/-Sukha
(510
owee
),
Ananda-Lahari
(154
owee
),
Chiranjeewa-Pad
(42
owee
),
Geeta-Saar
and
Prahlad-Vijaya
. He introduced a new form of devotional melodies called
Bharood
and wrote nearly 300 of them.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
Citations
Bibliography
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Eknath
.