Sant Namdev. (1270-1350)
Namdev was a pioneer of kirtan bhakti, which emphasizes achieving a direct, loving relationship with Brahman through constant, sincere devotion.
Namdev was not the author of any large treatise; but he left a large number of Abhangas. Most of these are now lost, but about four thousand Abhangas are traced. Some of Namdev’s Abhangas are found in the Sikh Adi Granth. It is said that Namdev had made a vow to compose a crore abhangs; all twelve members of his household became poets, and through them his vow was more than fulfilled.
He is the One in many,
Countless are His shapes and forms.
He pervades all that exists;
Wherever I look, He is there.
But very few perceive this reality,
For Maya ever enchants us
With her multiple reflections
Of color and alluring beauty.
Sant Namdev has a prominent place among the Sants who roamed about the country reciting poems and compositions.
Outside of Maharashtra he is also the best known Maharashtra sant.
Namdev's abhangas or devotional lyrics became very popular and have been collected in Namdevachi Gatha, which also includes the long autobiographical poem Tirathavah.
The fact that he occasionally wrote in a form of early Hindi, combined with his extended visits to the Punjab, carried Namdev's fame far beyond the borders of Maharashtra.
As many as sixty-one of his hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib of Guru Nanak. Namdev did not initiate any religious institution or movement; he exemplifies Bhakti-saint, a solitary soul in search for God.
The essence of Namdev’s message is:
"Always recite the Name of the Lord. Constantly remember Him. Hear His glory. Meditate on the Lord in your heart. Serve the Lord with your hands. Place your head at His lotus feet. Do Kirtan. You will forget your hunger and thirst. The Lord will be near you. You will attain immortality and eternal bliss."
Namdev repudiated all the four fundamentals of Vaisnavism. Though monotheistic in his devotional approach, he made statements such as “every thing is God;” “there is nothing but God;” “consider the world and God to be one;” “the foam and the water are not different.”
Namdev taught that God created maya and "maya is the name of the power that places man in the womb." Since the material world was unreal, he advocated renouncing it and seeking unity with God through devotion and singing. He also advocated good conduct and purity, and believed that each person was responsible for his acts. He did not believe in a world strictly governed by karma.
Namdev had much influence on Tukaram. Both his compositions and those of Sant Tukaram are gathas 'abhangas'
Namdev remains the leading poet-saint of the Indian medieval period, who wrote in the Marathi. The son of a tailor, Namdev married and had five children.
As a youth, he was a member of a murderous gang of thieves but was overcome with remorse one day on hearing the plaintive lamentations of a woman whose husband he had killed.
He was about to take his own life when he was saved by a revelation of the god Vishnu. Namdev then turned to a life of devotion and became the foremost exponent of the Varakari "Pilgrim School," so called because of the emphasis it placed on pilgrimages to Pandharpur to worship Vithoba. The school is known for its expression of bhakti and for its freedom from caste restrictions in a religious setting.
Namdev wrote a number of abhangas, expressive of his surrender to God. Extremely popular in Maharashtra and in the Punjab, some of his verses are included in the Adi Granth.
Namdev inspired a tradition of devotional poetry that continued in Maharashtra for four centuries, culminating in the works of the great devotional hymnist Tukaram.
