Eknath

Sant Ekanath was a prominent Marathi sant, scholar, and religious poet of the Varkari sampradaya. In the development of Marathi literature, Ekanath is seen as a bridge between his predecessors—Dnyaneshwar and Namdev—and the later Tukaram and Ramdas. Ekanath was born to Surya Naryana and Rukhmini of Paithan in Maharashtra. Once the little Ekanath was sitting outside Shiv temple when he heard a voice telling him to leave his family and go seek guru Janardhana Swami at Deogarh. Obediently he left his family and went. After he returned Paithan, on the wishes of his grandparents, Ekanath married Girija bai. He later had three children- Godavari, Hari Pandit and Ganga. As many years rolled by, Ekanath's health began failing and he decided to give up his body. He placed his disciple, Gavba to continue from where he had left reading Ramayana. After giving his last discourse on the banks of the Godavari, Ekanath gave up his body by entering the Godavari River

Origins

The precise dates of his life are uncertain but it is traditionally that Eknath live during the last three-quarters of the sixteenth-century CE. Legend also says that he was born to a Brahmin family at Paithan, that his parents died while he was young and that he was then raised by his grandfather, Bhanudas, a hero of the Varkari sect. Some sources say that Bhanudas was his great-grandfather. It is possible, but not certain, that his guru, Janardan, was a Sufi.

Writings

He wrote a variation of the Bhagavata Purana which is known as the Eknathi Bhagavata, and a variation of the Ramayana which is known as the Bhavarth Ramayan. Eknath wrote Rukmini Swayamwar Hastamalak, which was comprised 764 owees and based on a 14-shlok Sanskrit hymn with the same name by Shankaracharya.

His other works were the Shukashtak (447 owees), the Swatma-Sukha (510 owees), the Ananda-Lahari (154 owees), the Chiranjeewa-Pad (42 owees), the Geeta-Sar, and the Prahlad-Wijaya. He introduced a new form of Marathi religious song called Bharood, writing 300 of them. He performed them in varkari sampradaya. He wrote variations of Bharuds in other languages. He also wrote 300 religious songs in the Abhang form. He was also a preacher, and gave many public discourses.

Eknath initiated in Maharashtra a movement called Wasudewa Sanstha. It involved house-to-house visitations by individuals known as Wasudewa, who, standing in front of peoples' houses, spread religious messages through bhajans (ballads).

Teachings

Eknath was one of the earliest reformers of untouchability in Maharashtra, working as he was in the late Middle Ages. In times when Brahmins even avoided the shadow and the voice of an untouchable, he publicly showed courtesy toward untouchables and frequented them. saint Eknath (1533-1599) was staying along with his spiritual master saint Janardhan swami ( A authority in spirituality following dnyaneshwari (bhagwad gita) ) for 8 years on Devigiri fort as chief of all affairs. He overlooked all the activities on fort and also gone through a training in spirituality. He had fought couple of wars to defend the fort successfully.He use to maintain accounts of all fort expenses to help his guru in very humble way. Further he wrote Eknathi Bhagwat, Ramayana, Rukhmini swaymwar, Bharud and Gawlan and many books . He has in credit to correct dnyaneshwari which became incorrect over period of 200 years from saint dnyaneshwar.(1275–1296).

See also

• Vasudeva
• Bhagavatism

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• http://santeknath.org/home.html
• Ekanath - A Translation from Bhaktalilamrita by Justin E. Abbott (1927) at archive.org
• Shri Eknathi Bhagwat (Marathi) at archive.org