: दासबोध), loosely meaning advise to the disciple, is a classical 17th Century Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta is considered to be the most influential and most dominant sub-school of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. Other major sub-schools of Vedānta are Dvaita and ; while the minor ones include Suddhadvaita, Dvaitadvaita and Achintya Bhedabheda...

 spiritual text. It was orally narrated by saint Samarth Ramdas

Samarth Ramdas

Ramdas was a prominent Marathi saint and religious poet in the Hindu tradition in Maharashtra, India. Samarth Ramdas was a devotee of Lord Hanuman and Lord Rama...

, spiritual advisor of the famous King Shivaji, to his disciple Kalyan Swami. The narration is believed to have taken place in a cave called Shivatharghal in the Raigad district of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The Dasbodh provides readers with spiritual guidance on matters such as devotion and acquiring knowledge.

Background

Dasbodh is a classic spiritual text that until recently has been largely unavailable in the West. The text was written in the 17th Century{1654} by the great Saint, Shri Samartha Ramdas in the Marathi language. Marathi is the native language of Maharashtra State in India. The book was originally written in a poetic style and is presented in the format of a conversation between a Guru and disciple. Many questions are answered and many doubts are cleared. In Dasbodh, Samartha Ramdas presents the essence of many Vedic texts. Dasbodh is truly a manual for life in the highest sense. Dasbodh has been popular for many years in India and has only recently begun to receive recognition in the West. Dasbodh is somewhat unique among spiritual literature in that it not only expounds the classic themes of discrimination between the true and the untrue, and detachment commonly found in Vedic literature, but also provided is detailed instruction on how to function and excel in society from a place of deep spiritual understanding.

Dasbodh is a large volume which has 20 Main Chapters, each consisting of 10 sub-chapters. Each of these sub-chapters varies in the number of stanzas, but averages around 30-40 stanzas (ovi) per sub-chapter with some being considerably longer. Contained within the chapters of Dasbodh, Ramdas clearly outlines and makes easy the path of liberation through Devotion and Knowledge. Through knowledge, Ramdas clears away all doubts and gives the understanding of one's "True Self." Ramdas also reveals the true meaning and significance of "Discrimination" and "Detachment." Truly, an entire volume could be written in trying to describe all that is contained within this great text. It draws upon ancient Vedic texts including, but not limited to; The Vedas, the Shashtras, the Upanishads, the Avadhut Gita, the Bhagavad Gita, the Rama Gita, the Yogavasishtha, the Guru Gita, the Brahma Sutras, but to name a few. Mainly what is presented in Dasbodh is the voice of direct experience itself.

Dasbodh is one of the principle Advaita Vedanta texts that was commonly referenced by the masters of the Inchgiri Sampradaya. Notable modern day masters of this Sampradaya include Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Shri Ranjit Maharaj.

Rāmdās

Ramdas

Ramdas or Ram Das may refer to:*S. A. Ramadass, a MLA from Karnataka, India*Samarth Ramdas or Samartha Ramdas Swami, a 17th-century Hindu saint from Maharashtra, who was a devotee of Lord Rama and the spiritual guru of Maratha king Shivaji*Ramadasu, a 17th-century Hindu devotee from Andhra...

 (1608-1681), a religious Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 poet from Mahārāstra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, wrote Dāsbodh (दासबोध) in Marāthi

Marathi language

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...

. It is a comprehensive volume in verse form providing instructions as to how one ought live one's life.

Dasbodh prescribes the path of devotion to God or "Bhakti mārg" (भक्तिमार्ग) in Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

-- as well as the path of Knowledge or "Jnana Marg" for "liberation" according to Hindu philosophy. It deals with diverse aspects of human life such as politics, conducting business dealings, and taking care of one's body and family life.

Dasbodh is written in the verse form known as "owi" (ओव्या) in Marathi. The volume comprises 7,751 "owi" (ओव्या), and is divided into 20 "dashak" (दशक) chapters, each chapter consisting of ten "samās" (समास) sub-chapters.

Complete dasbodh text, grouped by dashakas, is avaialble at sanskritdocments.org

The audio of the entire Dasabodh has been completed by Meena Tapaswi. The audio files are accessible at archive.org

Dasbodh is an excellent gift to mankind. This granth (book) is a manual for living a life exalted. One of the key messages given by Saint Ramdas is to not be lazy, as he always encouraged aspirants to earn the livelihood in a virtuous manner. "aalse kam nasste, he to pratyas yete kashta kade chukawite hin jan" owi 4 from chapter 18 gives idea about what happens when person is lazy. The person who is ready to work will always be fortunate. Common man normally doesn't want to work and expects everything from God without an effort. This granth is dialogue between Guru and shishya which is often referred to as "GranthaRaj" or "King of Spiritual Texts."
Ramdas swami