Namdev

Namdev, (Occasionally: Nam Dev or Saint Namdev) (c.1270-c.1350 CE) was a prominent Bhakti poet of Maharashtra and among the earliest of those who wrote in the Marathi language. Renowned as a devotee of Sri Purandara Vitthala of Pandharpur, Namdev is also important to the Sikh tradition, since several of his compositions are enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib.

Sant Namdev was born in the village of Naras-Vamani, located now in the Satara District of Maharashtra, India, to a tailor named Damashetti and his wife Gonabi (Gunabai). He was married before the age of eleven to Rajabai, daughter of Govindashetti Sadavarte. They had four sons and one daughter.

Namdev was led to the path of bhakti under the direct tutelage saint Dnyaneshwar, to whom he was much devoted. In the company of Dnyaneshwar and other saints, Namdev roamed about the country reciting his poems and compositions. Later in life, he went to the Punjab; he is said to have lived for more than twenty years at the village of Ghuman in Gurdaspur district, where a memorial commemorates his sojourn.

Namdev's abhangas or devotional lyrics became very popular and have been collected in Namdevachi Gatha, which also includes the long autobiographical poem Tirathavah. The fact that he occasionally wrote in a form of early Hindi, combined with his extended visits to the Punjab, carried Namdev's fame far beyond the borders of Maharashtra. As many as sixty-one of his hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib. Namdev did not initiate any religious institution or movement; he exemplifies the archetypical Bhakti saint, a solitary soul in search for God.

See also

• Vithoba
• Eknath
• Backward-caste Hindu Saints
• Sikh Bhagats

Bibliography

• J.R.Puri, and V.K.Sethi, Saint Namdev (Punjab: Radha Soami Satsang Beas, 1975)
• M.A.Karandikar, Saint Namdev (New Delhi: Maharashtra Information Centre, 1985)
• Nirmal Dass (trans & intro), Songs of the Saints from the Adi Granth (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000) ISBN 0791446832

External Links

• The Great Saint Nama Deva
• The wandering minstrel article by French scholar Guy Deleury
• Bhagat Namdev Ji Biography
• Bhagat Namdevji