Saraswati Gangadhar
Encyclopedia
Saraswati Gangadhar सरस्वती गंगाधर (16th century?) is well known as the writer of the
Shri GuruCharitra
, the most powerful, influential and effective book written on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
(Shri Nrusimha Saraswati) who is considered as the second Avatar
of Shri Dattatreya
.
Nothing much is known about this poet's life. The only way we know him is through his masterpiece Shri GuruCharitra.
Guru-Charitra : Guru's Life Story or Guru's Biography.
. It is not known how many children he had. However, he keeps mentioning about his "poorvaj" who is Sayamdev.
Sayamdev was one of the four close disciples of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
. Saraswati Gangadhar is the fifth generation person (great-great-grandson) in Sayamdev family.
. However, his Gurucharitra uses very exceptional Marathi
.
Even then the Grantha does not have difficult to understand Sanskrit scripts. This shows his command over the language. As a poet he is truly extraordinary and shows his talents in the
construction of many stanzas ("ovya") which after reading will appear as if they are from
general purpose (or colloquial) language used in one's daily life. The selection of words and their flow is truly marvelous and shows his deep understanding and command over the Marathi
language.
The Gurucharitra written by him is considered as a "Ved" of Datta-Sampradaya which is quite wide spread in Maharashtra
, Karnataka
and Andhra-Pradesh. This Grantha is sort of like Gita for Datta-Sampradaya people. Saraswati Gangadhar has written 51 Chapters, in which he describes the life and philosophy of Shri Shripad ShriVallabha and Shri Narasimha Saraswati
. These are two avatars of Shri Dattatreya
. In spite of descriptions of Vedanta and other heavy philosophical ideas, this Grantha is written excellently and this makes it a one of the unique Granthas of its kind in the world. It is quite possible (according to experts like Prof. R. C. Dhere) that he possibly had the Sanskrit
version of the Gurucharitra written by Shri Narasimha Saraswati
's disciple "Siddha" and he may have translated that in prakrit language i.e. Marathi
.
(Pra-krit : Not Processed or Synthesized. Sans-krit : Processed or Synthesized).
was alive (Possibly 1378AD to 1458AD). It is also not possible that he may
have had contact with one of the disciples, say "Siddha" of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
. However, he must have had access to the Sanskrit Gurucharitra written by Shri Siddha.
There is no version or copy of this original Sanskrit Gurucharitra available anywhere,
so this is just a guess. Later in the 19th-20th century, Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati
alias Tembe Swami (1854AD-1914AD) wrote the Sanskrit version of Shri GuruCharitra.
Saraswati Gangadhar is truly great as a poet, because he describes many events (even the mythological ones) with such a great sense of power, that he shows that exceptional level of
expression in words which is very rare. This makes him one of the greatest among the Marathi
poets. He lived in village Kadaganchi
now located in Karnataka
.
Shri GuruCharitra
Shri GuruCharitra
Shri GuruCharitra श्री गुरूचरित्र was written by Shri Saraswati Gangadhar, the 15th-16th Century poet. His full name is Saraswati Gangadhar Saakhare and possibly stayed most of his life at Kadaganchi village, located now in Karnataka.Another Gurucharitra was written by Shri Govind Dabholkar on the...
, the most powerful, influential and effective book written on the life of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
(Shri Nrusimha Saraswati) who is considered as the second Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
of Shri Dattatreya
Dattatreya
Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...
.
Nothing much is known about this poet's life. The only way we know him is through his masterpiece Shri GuruCharitra.
Guru-Charitra : Guru's Life Story or Guru's Biography.
Family background
The lineage of his family is as follows: Sayamdeva, his son-> Nagnath, his son -> Devrao, his son-> Gangadhar and his son -> Saraswati Gangadhar. He belonged to the Aapastambha Brahmin shakha and his gotra is Kaudinya. The name of his mother's father is Chaundeshwar. His mother's name was Champa. His surname is Saakhare. This information is given in the first chapter of Shri GurucharitraShri GuruCharitra
Shri GuruCharitra श्री गुरूचरित्र was written by Shri Saraswati Gangadhar, the 15th-16th Century poet. His full name is Saraswati Gangadhar Saakhare and possibly stayed most of his life at Kadaganchi village, located now in Karnataka.Another Gurucharitra was written by Shri Govind Dabholkar on the...
. It is not known how many children he had. However, he keeps mentioning about his "poorvaj" who is Sayamdev.
Sayamdev was one of the four close disciples of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
. Saraswati Gangadhar is the fifth generation person (great-great-grandson) in Sayamdev family.
Poetic Work
As a poet, he is exceptional in his clarity of thoughts, selection of words and poetic sense. He has a tremendous command over his language. His mother tongue was Kannada and NOT MarathiMarathi 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...
. However, his Gurucharitra uses very exceptional Marathi
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...
.
Even then the Grantha does not have difficult to understand Sanskrit scripts. This shows his command over the language. As a poet he is truly extraordinary and shows his talents in the
construction of many stanzas ("ovya") which after reading will appear as if they are from
general purpose (or colloquial) language used in one's daily life. The selection of words and their flow is truly marvelous and shows his deep understanding and command over the Marathi
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...
language.
The Gurucharitra written by him is considered as a "Ved" of Datta-Sampradaya which is quite wide spread in 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...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
and Andhra-Pradesh. This Grantha is sort of like Gita for Datta-Sampradaya people. Saraswati Gangadhar has written 51 Chapters, in which he describes the life and philosophy of Shri Shripad ShriVallabha and Shri Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
. These are two avatars of Shri Dattatreya
Dattatreya
Dattatreya or Datta is a Hindu deity encompassing the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, collectively known as Trimurti. The name Dattatreya can be divided into two words - "Datta" and "Atreya" referring to the sage Atri, his physical father.Various Hindu sects worship him differently...
. In spite of descriptions of Vedanta and other heavy philosophical ideas, this Grantha is written excellently and this makes it a one of the unique Granthas of its kind in the world. It is quite possible (according to experts like Prof. R. C. Dhere) that he possibly had the 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...
version of the Gurucharitra written by Shri Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
's disciple "Siddha" and he may have translated that in prakrit language i.e. Marathi
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...
.
(Pra-krit : Not Processed or Synthesized. Sans-krit : Processed or Synthesized).
Life Story
Unfortunately nothing is known about Saraswati Gangadhar's life and death. But it appears that he was not born when Shri Narasimha SaraswatiNarasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
was alive (Possibly 1378AD to 1458AD). It is also not possible that he may
have had contact with one of the disciples, say "Siddha" of Shri Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati
Narasimha Saraswati नरसिहसरस्वती is the Purna Avatar of Dattatreya.He was born in Karanjapur which is modern Lad-Karanja or karanja in Maharashtra Vidbaraba region....
. However, he must have had access to the Sanskrit Gurucharitra written by Shri Siddha.
There is no version or copy of this original Sanskrit Gurucharitra available anywhere,
so this is just a guess. Later in the 19th-20th century, Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati
Vasudevanand Saraswati
Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati is also known as Shri Tembe Swami.His original name is Vasudeo, father's name is Ganeshbhatt, mother's name is Ramaabai and Grandfather's name is Haribhatt...
alias Tembe Swami (1854AD-1914AD) wrote the Sanskrit version of Shri GuruCharitra.
Saraswati Gangadhar is truly great as a poet, because he describes many events (even the mythological ones) with such a great sense of power, that he shows that exceptional level of
expression in words which is very rare. This makes him one of the greatest among the Marathi
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...
poets. He lived in village Kadaganchi
Kadaganchi
Kadaganchi is a village in Aland taluk, Gulbarga district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a primary health center, a branch of the State Bank of India.-Travel:...
now located in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.