Raghunath Pandit was a 17th-century

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

poet. He was born in a

Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Bra ...

(DRB) family of scholars. Marathi poetry went through a phase where text drew heavily on religious mythology and was dominated by language influenced by

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

, a language which few in contemporary times understand. This literature is called Pant-Sahitya. Raghunath Pandit was one of its major practitioners, writing the Nal-Damayanti Swayamwar Akhyan. Other exponents of Pant-Sahitya were

Vaman Pandit Vaman Pandit (born Vaman Tanaji Sesha) ( mr, वामनपंडित) (1608–1695) was a Marathi scholar and poet of India. Vaman Pandit from the house of Sesha was a great poet whose poetry made quite an impact on the whole Maharashtra. Vam ...

(1608–1695),

Shridhar Pandit Shridhar Brahmanand Nazarekar ( mr, श्रीधर ब्रम्हानंद नाझरेकर; CE 1658-1729), popularly known as Shridhar Swami Nazarekar or Shridhar Pandit, was a popular Marathi Akhyanaka (narrative) poet and phi ...

(1658-1729) and

Moropant Moreshwar Ramchandra Paradkar (Devanagari: मोरेश्वर रामजी पराडकर) (1729–1794), popularly known in Maharashtra as Moropant (मोरोपंत) or Mayur Pandit (मयूर पंडित), was a Marat ...

(Paradkar) (1729–1794). Several scholars were experts in this field around the year 1900 but slowly their numbers dwindled. Laxman Ramchand (La Raa) Pangarkar was an authority on Sant-Sahitya and Pant-Sahitya. Tukaram and Ramdas were the last major poets of Sant-Sahitya and Bhakti Parampara. The next phase of Bhakti was marked by Pant-Sahitya. Around this time, other forms of poetry such as

Powada The powada ( mr, पोवाडा) is a genre of Marathi poetry that was during the late 17th century in India. Powada, which means ‘to glorify’, is a traditional Marathi ballad that traces its history to more than 750 years Powadas often gl ...

, Phatka, Lavani also existed. Starting with Keshavasut in the late 19th century, Marathi poetry made a departure from Pant parampara. It became more modern in outlook, easier to understand, expanded its horizons, and the new brigade of poets was also influenced by English poetry.

References

{{Reflist Marathi-language writers