Mahipati (1715 - 1790) was an 18th century

Marathi language Marathi (; , 𑘦𑘨𑘰𑘙𑘲, , ) is a Classical languages of India, classical Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra and is also spoken in Goa, and parts of Guj ...

hagiographer who wrote biographies of prominent Hindu

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

sants who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and other regions of India.

Early life

Mahipati was born in a

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family of

Shakala Shakha Shakala Shaka (Sanskrit: शाकल शाखा; IAST: ''Śākala Śākhā''), is the oldest shakha (from skt. ''śākhā'' f. "branch" or "recension") of the ''Rigveda''. The Śākala tradition is mainly followed in Maharashtra, Karnataka, K ...

and

Vasishta Vasishtha (, ) is one of the oldest and revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vasishtha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vasishtha and his family are mentioned in Rigv ...

gotra to Dadopant Kamble who was the hereditary Kulkarni (record keeper) of Taharabad in present day

Ahmednagar district Ahmednagar district (Marathi pronunciation: �ɦ(ə)məd̪nəɡəɾ, officially Ahilyanagar district, is the largest district of Maharashtra state in western India. The historical city of Ahmednagar is the headquarters of the district. Ahmednagar ...

of Maharashtra. Dadopant and his wife were devotees of

Vithoba Vithoba (IAST: ''Viṭhobā''), also known as Vitthala (IAST: ''Viṭṭhala''), and Panduranga (IAST: ''Pāṇḍuraṅga''), is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is a form of the Hindu ...

of Pandharpur. After his father's death, he inherited the job of Kulkarni for Taharabad. He also worked for a local Mughal landlord. After falling out with his landlord, Mahipati devoted the rest of his life to performing

Kirtan Sikh ''kirta''n with Indian harmoniums and '' Kenya.html" ;"title="tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya">tabla'' drums (a common and popular pairing), in Kenya (1960s) ''Kirtana'' (; ), also rendered as ''Kiirtan'', ''Kirt ...

s on lives of saints, collecting information on these saints and writing their hagiographies.

Works

During his life, Mahipati played down his abilities, his hagiographies of the

Varkari Warkari ( ; Marathi: ; Pronunciation: ; Meaning: 'The one who performs the ''Wari) is a sampradaya (religious movement) within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indian state of Maharashtra. Wark ...

saints are considered to be the most authoritative. Mahipati claimed Varkari sant

Tukaram Tukaram (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ukaːɾam, also known as Tuka, Tukobaraya and Tukoba, was a Hindu Marathi saint of the Warkari sampradaya in Dehu village, Maharashtra in the 17th century. He was a '' bhakt'' of the god Vithoba, also kn ...

as the inspiration for his writings. Although in early part of his literary career he relied on works by Nabha Dass and Uddhava Ciddhan for his biographies, he soon realized shortcomings in their accounts of the saints and started collecting information himself. Mahipati, at times, during his life wrote multiple biographies of the same saint. He included any new information he obtained about the saint in his newer biographies. He also believed that the lives of the revered saints can not be grasped in a single sweep. Callewaert et al, therefore call the later biographies as the "revised editions of the old books. Mahipati wrote his biographies in the Ovi metre. Christian Lee Novetzke considers Mahipati's work to be a kind of transcribed kirtan. Indeed during his life mahipati, per Novetzke, was known as a kirtankar (Kirtan performer) rather than a writer. ;Selected Works

Legacy

*An English translation of '' Bhaktavijaya'', originally written by Mahipati around 1762, was published under the provisions of the will of American Missionary, Justin E. Abbott in 1933. * Mahipati's town of Tahrabad has declared as a pilgrimage site by the government of Maharashtra. A pilgrim guest house has been constructed in the town for Mahipati devotees. *The pilgrimage complex in tahrabad includes his house, a Vitthal temple and a memorial to Mahipati consisting of a Tulasi Vrindavan. *Mahipati used to perform the annual

Pandharpur Wari Pandharpur Wari or Wari is a ''yatra'' to Pandharpur, Maharashtra, to honor Vithoba. It involves carrying the ''paduka'' of a saint in a '' palkhi'', most notably of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, from their respective shrines to Pandharpur. Many ...

during his lifetime. The tradition continues with his symbolic sandals taken to Pandharpur from Tahrabad by his followers.

Gallery

Image:Mahipati Aad.jpg , Mahipati Well in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Samadhi.jpg , Mahipati Memorial in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Devshtan.jpg , Mahipati Temple in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Paduka.jpg , Mahipati Paduka ( Ceremonial Sandals) in Taharabad

References

Notes Citations 1715 births 1790 deaths 18th-century Indian biographers Bhakti movement Hagiographers People from Ahmednagar district Writers from Maharashtra {{India-writer-stub