Eknath
{{Short description|Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, and poet (1533–1599)}}
{{about|the 16th century CE spiritual figure|the 20th century CE spiritual teacher|Eknath Easwaran}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}{{Infobox Hindu leader
| name = Eknath
| honorific_prefix =
| image = Eknath 2003 stamp of India.jpg
| caption = Eknath on a 2003 stamp of India
| religion = Hinduism
| father = Suryanarayan
| mother = Rukminibai
| birth_date = 1533
| birth_place = Present-day Paithan Taluka, Sambhaji nagar, Maharashtra, India
| birth_name =
| full_name =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1599|1533}}
| death_place =
| guru =
| philosophy = Advaita, Varkari
| honors = Sant (Saint)
| literary_works = Eknathi Bhagavata, Bhavarth Ramayan, Rukmini Swayamwar Hastamalak, Shukashtak, Swatma-Sukha, Ananda-Lahari, Chiranjeewa-Pad, Geeta-Saar and Prahlad-Vijaya
| Spouse =
}}
Eknath (IAST: Eka-nātha, Marathi pronunciation: [eknath]) (1533–1599), {{Pronunciation|Eknath.wav|help=no}}was an Indian Hindu Vaishnava saint, philosopher and poet. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity Vitthal and is a major figure of the Warkari movement. Eknath is often viewed as a spiritual successor to the prominent Marathi saints Dnyaneshwar and Namdev.
Biography
Precise details of his life remain obscure. It is generally believed that Eknath lived during the latter three-quarters of the 16th-century. He was born into a Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family of Vishwamitra gotra to Suryanarayan and Rukmini Bai at Paithan, present-day Maharashtra and was a follower of the Ashvalayana Sutra. His father probably held the title of Kulkarni and kept financial accounts. Their family deity is Ekvira Devi (or Renuka).{{cite book |isbn=9788172014568| year=1994| title=Eknath|publisher = Sahitya Akademi| author=Ganesh Vasudeo Tagare|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K3V1AAAAIAAJ&q=Eknath+Deshastha| quote=EKNATH : A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH* (A. D. 1533–1599). A reference to the Marathi Vangmaya Kosh (A biographical dictionary of Marathi writers) shows that there were three authors called "Eknath" and seven authors who used the mudrika (Pen-name) "Eka-Janardan" used by our author Eknath. Eknath was a Rigvedi Deshastha Brahmin, a follower of the Ashvalayana Sutra. His Gotra was Vishvamitra. His family deity was Ekaveera Devi (or Renuka). His family lived at Paithan, ...}}
His parents died while Eknath was young. He was then raised by his grandfather, Chakrapani. His great-grandfather Bhanudas was another revered saint of the Warkari sect.{{sfnp|Novetzke|2013|pp=141–142|ps=}}{{sfnp|Schomer|McLeo|1987|p=94|ps=}} Eknath was a disciple of Janardan Swami{{Cite web|url=https://www.blog.sagarworld.com/hinduism/history-of-india/saints-of-india/sant-eknath-story/|title=Coming Soon Page|access-date=7 July 2020|archive-date=7 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707193252/https://www.blog.sagarworld.com/hinduism/history-of-india/saints-of-india/sant-eknath-story/|url-status=dead}} who was a devotee of the Hindu deity Dattatreya.
Eknath's samadhi shrine is located at Paithan near the Godavari river. Celebrations commemorating Eknath are held every year around the month of March at Paithan.{{cite book|author=George Michell|title=Southern India: A Guide to Monuments Sites & Museums|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdBbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT115|date=1 May 2013|publisher=Roli Books Private Limited|isbn=978-81-7436-903-1|page=115}}
Literary contribution
Eknath was a creative person, who utilized his literary skills to compose religious work in vernacular Marathi language, promoting local devotional religious practice, and opposing the suppressive caste-system.
Eknath's writings include a variation of the Hindu religious text Bhagavata Purana, known as Eknathi Bhagavata.{{cite thesis|last1=Keune|first1=Jon Milton|title=Eknāth Remembered and Reformed: Bhakti, Brahmans, and Untouchables in Marathi Historiography|date=2011|publisher=Columbia University press|location=New York, NY, USA|page=32|doi=10.7916/D8CN79VK |hdl=10022/AC:P:11409 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:11409|access-date=9 March 2016}} He also wrote a variation of the Hindu epic Ramayana, known as Bhavarth Ramayan. He also composed Rukmini Swayamwar Hastamalak, a literary piece consisting of 764 owee (poetic metre) and based on a Sanskrit hymn of the same name. He has also tried to shift the emphasis of Marathi literature from spiritual to narrative composition and introduced a new form of Marathi religious song called Bharood.
Asserting the importance of Marathi, he said:{{Cite book |last=Chandra |first=Satish |title=History of Medieval India |year=2018 |isbn=978-93-5287-457-6}}
If Sanskrit was made by God, was Prakrit born of thieves and knaves? Let these errings be of vanity alone. God is no partisan of tongues. To Him Prakrit and Sanskrit are alike. My language Marathi is worthy of expressing the highest sentiments and is rich, laden with the fruits of divine knowledge.His other literary works include Shukashtak (447 owee), Sukha (510 owee), Ananda-Lahari (154 owee), Chiranjeewa-Pad (42 owee), Geeta-Saar and Prahlad-Vijaya. He introduced a new form of devotional melodies called Bharood and wrote nearly 300 of them.
See also
References
Citations
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{citation |title=Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India |first=Christian Lee |last=Novetzke |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9780231512565 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SqUdRVOv9TUC}}
- {{citation |title=The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India |last1=Schomer |first1=Karine |first2=W. H. |last2=McLeo |year=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120802773 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkKhOivXrhgC}}
{{refend}}
External links
- [https://marathischool.in/sant-eknath-information/ Sant Eknath Maharaj Information in Marathi]
{{Commons category|Eknath}}
- [https://archive.org/details/Ekanath.Bhaktalilamrita Eknath - A Translation from Bhaktalilamrita by Justin E. Abbott (1927)] at archive.org
- [https://archive.org/details/Shri.Eknathi.Bhagwat.Marathi Shri Eknathi Bhagwat (Marathi)] at archive.org
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Category:Marathi-language poets
Category:16th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians
Category:16th-century Indian philosophers
Category:Date of birth unknown
Category:Date of death unknown
Category:People from Marathwada
Category:Scholars from Maharashtra