Dharani Das (1646-1688) was a

Ramanandi The Ramanandi (), also known as Ramavats (), is one of the largest sects of Vaishnavas. Out of 52 sub-branches of Vaishnavism, divided into four Vaishnava ''sampradayas'', 36 are held by the Ramanandi. The sect mainly emphasizes the worship ...

saint and

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

poet who contributed significantly to the development of

Bhojpuri literature Bhojpuri literature (Kaithi: ; Devanagari: भोजपुरी साहित्य; IAST: Bhojpurī Sāhitya) includes literature written in Bhojpuri language. Bhojpuri has developed over a course of 1300 years, the development of the language ...

. He was from a

Kayastha Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...

family and contemporary of the Mughal emperor

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

. His followers are called ''Dharnidasis'', who wear a beaded string around the neck, sing bhajans, and are vegetarian.

Life

He was born in 1646 A.D. in a Kayastha family of Manjhi village near

Chhapra Chhapra (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Chaparā'') is a city and headquarters of the Saran District in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based mar ...

in Bihar. His father's name was Parshuram and mother's name was Birma and his childhood name was Gaibi. His ancestors were employed on the post of Diwan in Manjhi estate. He also served the state before becoming a Saint. The popular myth about his conversion to a saint is that, once during his work he poured a

Pot Pot may refer to: Containers * Flowerpot, a container in which plants are cultivated * Pottery, ceramic containers made from clay * Cooking pot, a type of cookware * Pot, a beer glass Places * Ken Jones Aerodrome, IATA airport code POT * ...

of water on the papers, on asking the reason for doing that he replied that Lord

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

was ablaze during arti and he had done that to extinguish the fire. When the landlord enquired he found the story to be true. After that he became a Saint. In 1657AD, he became the follower of the school of

Ramananda Jagadguru Swami Ramananda (IAST: Rāmānanda) or Ramanandacharya was an Indian 14th-century Hindu Vaishnava devotional poet Sant (religion), saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the f ...

, who was a propagator of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

. One of the two incidents that led him to leave the worldly life and adopt monkhood was his father's death, and the second was the death of Mughal Emperor

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

. He took initiation from a saint named Charandas, and then became the disciple of Vinodanand. Sadanand and Karunanidhan were two of his notable disciples. In his lifetime, he established several Mathas like ''Paras Math'' near Ekma, ''Sahnam Math'' near Bhatni, where every year a fair is held associated with him and his followers Sadanand and Shivanand. He also established a math at Manjhi. His religious ideas were against

Idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

and

Superstition A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic (supernatural), magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly app ...

. He also authored three books Prem Prakash and Shabd Prakash, which were in Bhojpuri and Braj Bhakha and third was Aalif, which was in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Works

He has written three books: * Prem Prakash (or Prem Pragas) * Shabd Prakash * Aalif Shabd Pragas was published in 1887 from Nashik Press in Chhapra. A collection of his compositions named ''Dharnidas ki vani'' was also published in 1911 as a booklet of 47 pages from

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

References

{{reflist Indian poets Bhojpuri-language writers 1646 births Year of death unknown