Mhaimbhat (c. 13th century) was one of the earliest followers of Chakradhar Swami and the

Mahanubhava Mahanubhava (also known as Jai Krishni Pantha) refers to a Krishnaite Hindu denomination in India that was founded by Sarvadnya Shri Chakradhar Swami (or Shri Chakradhara Swami), an ascetic and philosopher who is considered a reincarnation ...

sect, and author of ''

Leela Charitra ''Leela Charitra'' is a biography of Chakradhar Swami, the guru of the Mahanubhava sect, and is a sacred text of that sect. It was written in the late 13th century by their follower Mhaimbhat with reference from Shri Nagdev Aacharya The ''Lila ...

'', the first biography written in the

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 ...

Life

Mhaimbhat belonged to the Sarala village of the

Ahmadnagar 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. He was born in a

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

family and studied

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

from his maternal uncle Ganapati Aapayo. Later, he went to

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

for further studies. After returning to Maharashtra, he won debates against many scholars of Indian philosophy. He first met Chakradhar Swami on the insistence of his uncle, when he debated him at Domegram, and returned home influenced by him. Arriving at a decision to follow Chakradhar Swami, he went to Riddhapur where Govind Prabhu, ''guru'' of Chakradhar Swami, resided. Mhaimbhat was married to Deaamba, the daughter of his uncle Ganapati Aapayo.

Literary works

Mhaimbhat took upon himself the task of writing a memoir of Chakradhar Swami soon after the latter died. He traveled all over Maharashtra and collected anecdotes and life events related to Chakradhar Swami. With the help of Bhatobas, another disciple of the sect, he met a large number of people connected to Chakradhar Swami and collected material from various sources – often cross-checking the same story from more than one source to evaluate trustworthiness. This approach by Mhaimbhat is considered rather scientific, considering he was writing in 13th-century India. Later in his life, Mhaimbhat also wrote ''Riddhapur Charitra'', a biography of Govind Prabhu, another figurehead of the Mahanubhava sect. Along with these two biographies, he wrote ten ''

aarti ''Arti'' () or ''Aarati'' () is a Hindu ritual employed in worship, part of a ''Puja (Hinduism), puja'', in which light from a flame (fuelled by camphor, ghee, or oil) is ritually waved to venerate Hindu deities, deities. ''Arti'' also refers t ...

s'' lyrical hyms in praise of God – which form a part of Mahanubhava rituals.

Legacy

As an author of ''Leela Charitra'', Mhaimbhat is considered to be the first known prose writer in the Marathi language. The language of ''Leela Charitra'' invokes some academic interest as it documents the language spoken by common Marathi people of the 13th century.

References

{{Authority control Marathi-language writers 13th-century Indian writers Mahanubhava sect