Dharamdas was an Indian saint,

Bhojpuri language Bhojpuri (IPA: ; Devanagari: , Kaithi: ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bhojpuri region, Bhojpur-Purvanchal region of India and the Terai region of Nepal.:ethnologue:bho, Bhojpuri Ethnologue World Languages (2009) It is chiefly spok ...

poet and one of the disciples of

Kabir Kabir ( 15th century) was a well-known Indian devotional mystic poet and sant. His writings influenced Hinduism's Bhakti movement, and his verses are found in Sikhism's scripture Guru Granth Sahib, the Satguru Granth Sahib of Saint Gar ...

. It is said that after becoming Kabir's disciple, he gave away all his rich possessions. Followers of Dharamdas are known as ''Dharamdasis''.

Life

Dharamdas was born into a rich

Vaishya Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Vedic Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of Varna hierarchy. The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, takin ...

family near

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. Dharamdas made two gurus in his life: the first Guru was Roopdas and the second Guru was Kabir. The name of Dharamdas' wife was Amini Devi. He had two sons, the first son was Narayan Das who opposed Kabir's knowledge and the second son was Chudamani (Muktamani).

Spiritual journey

Since childhood, he was very religious. He used to like attending Satsang, Puja,

pilgrimages A pilgrimage is a journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is o ...

, etc. Earlier, he used to

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...

idols.One day he met with Kabir. Both discussed spiritual knowledge. In the first meeting, he did not accept the spiritual knowledge that was given by Kabir. But after he understood the spiritual knowledge from Kabir, he left idols' worship. After giving

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...

to Dharamdas, Kabir Saheb took him to the Satlok (Immortal place). After coming from satlok, he wrote Kabir Sagar, Kabir Beejak, and Kabir Sakhi which were narrated by Kabir.

Evidence in his speech

Aaj mohe darshan diyo ji Kabir , , tek, , Satyalok se chal kar aaye, kaatan jam ki janjeer , , 1, , Thaare darshan se mhaare paap katat hain, nirmal hovae ji shareer , , 2, , Amrit bhojan mhaare Satguru jeemaen, shabd doodh ki kheer , , 3, , Hindu ke tum Dev kahaaye, Musalmaan ke peer , , 4, , Dono deen ka jhagda chhid gayaa, tohe na paaye shareer , , 5, , Dharmdas ki arj Gosaain, beda lagaaio parle teer , , 6, ,

Missionary work

After the founding of

Kabir Chaura Kabir Chaura is a locality in Varanasi, India. It is known as the place where the great mystic poet and saint Kabir grew up. The word 'Chaura' is a distortion of 'Chauraha', literally meaning a four-way crossing (''chau'' meaning "four"; ''rah ...

by Kabir's disciple Surat Gopal, whom was the first Kabirpanthi missionary, Dharamdas would slightly later found the Dham Khera (Damakheda) maṭh (also known as ''māī'' meaning "mother) located in modern-day

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

. It conducted missionary activities in

central India Central India refers to a geographical region of India that generally includes the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The Central Zonal Council, established by the Government of India, includes these states as well as Uttar Prades ...

and had branches located in Raipur, Bilaspur, and Chindawara.

Legacy

The Dharamdasi sub-tradition is headquartered at the Dharamdas' ashram located in Damkhera village near Raipur. The group bears similarities to the Radhasoamis. A recent spiritual master of the group was Grindhmuni Nam.

References