A Short Note On Namadeva

Namdev (also known as Nam Deo, Saint Namdev, or Sant Namdev) was a well-known devotional poet who was the first to write in Marathi. Namdev was born inside the settlement of Naras-Bamani in the Maharashtra region of Satara during the year 1270. Namdev’s life is shrouded in mystery. Several miracle-filled hagiographies have been written about him decades after his death. However, these narratives are ambiguous and conflicting, according to scholars. Namdev, a follower of Pandharpur’s Sri Purandara Vittala, joined the great sage Jnanadev on a five-year journey to all of India’s spiritual spots. As a result, he chose Visoba Khechar as his personal Guru and learned that God is everywhere and in everyone.

Namadeva

The very first Marathi writer and biographer and the leading promoter of Bhagavata-Dharma, who spread the faith to Punjab. Namdev was uninterested in the business venture. His dedication to Lord Vitthal remained outstanding even as a youngster; his entire occupation would have been to devote himself to Vithoba 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. His love for Vithoba was so strong that he saw him as his closest brother or companion at times. Namdev’s parents gave him several food options for Vithoba when he was five years old and instructed him to present them to Vithoba inside the Pandharpur shrine.

Saint Namdev

Saint Namdev, a companion saint-poet of Saint Dnyaneshwar, was a very well known Maharashtra religious writer. He became one of the first writers to use the Marathi dialect in his work. He can be the most ardent follower of the Bhagwat-Dharma, whose influence extends across Maharashtra and Punjab. He likewise composed Hindi and Punjabi hymns. According to legend, his level of commitment and skill in presenting Kirtan became so great that even Lord Pandurang succumbed to his music. Saint Namdev fostered religious harmony throughout the country regardless of being a member of the Varkari sect. The Bhagavata Purana, as well as the Shiva Nathpanthis, inspired the Hindu tradition in Maharashtra.

However, both share the goal of realizing God as the greatest goal of human existence. Namdev was a renowned saint who belonged to the Vithoba cult. Namdeo Relekar would have been his full name. Yadusheth, his seventh-generation descendant, was a Bhagawad-Dharma follower. His family relocated to Pandharpur shortly after his conception, wherein Lord Vitthal (also known as Vithoba) has a significant shrine. Saint Namdev must have devoted most of his life to Pandharpur, which spanned eighty years. His parents had been Vithoba followers.

The household followed the Pandharpur Varkari system by traveling on vacation on the first twelfth day since the Ashadh (June-July) and Kartik (September) months throughout the year. He would become a medieval Indian saint-poet. He would not be a servant of Lord Vishnu but rather a collaborator of the Divine. Namdev is supposed to be a manifestation of Uddhava, one of Lord Krishna’s top advisors and one of his most ardent devotees. The Lord talked to Uddhava in the 24 sections of Srimad Bhagavatam’s eleventh Skanda, collectively making up the Uddhava-Gita.

It was among the most genuine discourses of Hindu philosophy, second primarily to the Bhagavad-gita verbatim, right from the rider’s mouth. When Krishna could not depart Uddhava’s plane of existence, Uddhava struggled to let go of Him. But, on the other hand, Krishna persuaded him to accept things since they were and urged him to travel to Badarikashrama to perform devotion until the point of death, which Saint Namdev accomplished.

The Reliability of Literary Works

According to scholars, many marvels and details concerning Namdev’s life are only found in documents written decades after Sant Namdev‘s death. For example, the birth hypothesis of Namdev swimming down a waterfall is first mentioned in Mahipati’s Bhakta Vijay, written about 1762, and is not included in any of Namdev’s previous biographies. To pay homage to Namdev, Mahipati’s narrative of Namdev includes countless more marvels, including buildings turning and the sun emerging in the west.

Only very few miracles are mentioned in the earliest extant Hindi and Rajasthani memoirs from around 1600. Also, with the flow of time, new biographical circumstances and other wonders occur in Namdev biographies produced after 1600 till the end of the twentieth century. Namdev’s caste is not mentioned in the oldest biographies, and it is first mentioned in documents with assertions from Ravidas and Dhana in the early 17th century. The Namdev biographies found in medieval texts are inconsistent and conflicting, raising doubts about their accuracy.

Conclusion

Namdev would have been a founder of the severe bhakti school, particularly emphasizing continual, sincere commitment to have a direct, deep connection with Brahman. Namdev did not write any significant treatises, although he did leave a massive amount of Abhyanga. The majority of them are already lost, but roughly 4,000 Abhangas remain. The Sikh Hari Granth contains several of Sant Namdev ‘s Abhyanga. In addition, Namdev is supposed to have promised to create a hundred songs.