Mahipati
Encyclopedia
Mahipati was an author who wrote in Marāthi biographies of the prominent Hindu saints who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in Mahārāshtra
, India
.
He was a "Brahmin" by birth, and worked for some time as a scribe/record keeper for the local government of the Village Taaharabad in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.
There is a legend about Mahipati which runs thus:
One day, outside his working hours, his superior sent a messenger to his house to ask him to come to the superior's office immediately for some urgent official business. When the messenger arrived at his house, Mahipati was engaged in the worship of God, and asked the messenger to take back a message that he would be coming to the superior's office as soon as he was done with his worship. The messenger insisted, however, that Mahipati should come with him right away. Very reluctantly, Mahipati cut short his worship, accompanied the messenger to the superior's office, finished the urgent business, and let the superior know that he no longer wanted to stay in the secular job and that he preferred to use his pen thenceforth exclusively for writing religious material. Soon after that, Mahipati received one night in his dream both a mantra
and a command from the departed spirit of Sant Tukaram
to write the life stories of past prominent religious figures in Maharashtra. Accordingly, Mahipati put together his noteworthy biographical book Bhaktavijaya
in Marathi. He also wrote another book titled BhaktaLeelāmrut.Dnyāneshwar
, Nāmdev
, Janābai
, Eknāth
, and Tukaram
are revered especially in the wārakari
(वारकरी) sect in Maharashtra. Whatever information about the lives of the above saints of Maharashtra comes mostly from the works Bhakti-Wijay and Bhakti-Leelāmrut written by Mahipati. Mahipati was born 65 years after the death of Tukaram, (Tukaram having died 50 years, 300 years, and 353 years after the deaths of Ekanath, Namdev, and Dnyaneshwar, respectively.) Thus, Mahipati undoubtedly based his life sketches of all above "sants" primarily on hearsays.
An English translation of Mahipati's BhaktaVijay was published under the provisions of the will of the late Dr Justin E. Abbott.
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...
.
He was a "Brahmin" by birth, and worked for some time as a scribe/record keeper for the local government of the Village Taaharabad in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra.
There is a legend about Mahipati which runs thus:
One day, outside his working hours, his superior sent a messenger to his house to ask him to come to the superior's office immediately for some urgent official business. When the messenger arrived at his house, Mahipati was engaged in the worship of God, and asked the messenger to take back a message that he would be coming to the superior's office as soon as he was done with his worship. The messenger insisted, however, that Mahipati should come with him right away. Very reluctantly, Mahipati cut short his worship, accompanied the messenger to the superior's office, finished the urgent business, and let the superior know that he no longer wanted to stay in the secular job and that he preferred to use his pen thenceforth exclusively for writing religious material. Soon after that, Mahipati received one night in his dream both a mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
and a command from the departed spirit of Sant Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...
to write the life stories of past prominent religious figures in Maharashtra. Accordingly, Mahipati put together his noteworthy biographical book Bhaktavijaya
Bhaktavijaya
Bhaktavijaya is a Marathi text by Mahipati, which extols the deeds of the saint-poets of the Varkari sect of Hinduism....
in Marathi. He also wrote another book titled BhaktaLeelāmrut.Dnyāneshwar
Dnyaneshwar
Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...
, Nāmdev
Namdev
Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...
, Janābai
Janabai
Janābāi was a Marāthi religious poetess in the Hindu tradition in India, who was born likely in the seventh or the eighth decade of the 13th century. According to folklore, she died in 1350....
, Eknāth
Eknath
Eknath was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets...
, and Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...
are revered especially in the wārakari
Varkari
Varkari is a Vaishnava religious movement within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra and northern Karnataka. Varkaris worship Vithoba , the presiding deity of Pandharpur, regarded as a form of Krishna, an Avatar of Vishnu...
(वारकरी) sect in Maharashtra. Whatever information about the lives of the above saints of Maharashtra comes mostly from the works Bhakti-Wijay and Bhakti-Leelāmrut written by Mahipati. Mahipati was born 65 years after the death of Tukaram, (Tukaram having died 50 years, 300 years, and 353 years after the deaths of Ekanath, Namdev, and Dnyaneshwar, respectively.) Thus, Mahipati undoubtedly based his life sketches of all above "sants" primarily on hearsays.
An English translation of Mahipati's BhaktaVijay was published under the provisions of the will of the late Dr Justin E. Abbott.