Raghunath Pandit was a 17th-century

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

poet. He was born in a Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin (DRB) family of scholars.

Marathi poetry Marathi poetry is a poetry written in the Marathi language, including its various dialects. The poet-saints Namdev (Devanagari: नामदेव) and Dnyaneshwar (Devanagari: ज्ञानेश्वर), from Maharashtra, India, wrote the e ...

went through a phase where text drew heavily on religious mythology and was dominated by language influenced by

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, a language which few in contemporary times understand. This literature is called Pant-Sahitya. Raghunath Pandit was one of its major practitioners, writing the Nal-Damayanti Swayamwar Akhyan. Other exponents of Pant-Sahitya were

Vaman Pandit Vaman Pandit (born Vaman Tanaji Sesha) ( mr, वामनपंडित) (1608–1695) was a Marathi scholar and poet of India. Vaman Pandit from the house of Sesha was a great poet whose poetry made quite an impact on the whole Maharashtra. Vam ...

(1608–1695),

Shridhar Pandit Shridhar Brahmanand Nazarekar ( mr, श्रीधर ब्रम्हानंद नाझरेकर; CE 1658-1729), popularly known as Shridhar Swami Nazarekar or Shridhar Pandit, was a popular Marathi Akhyanaka (narrative) poet and phi ...

(1658-1729) and

Moropant Moreshwar Ramchandra Paradkar (Devanagari: मोरेश्वर रामजी पराडकर) (1729–1794), popularly known in Maharashtra as Moropant (मोरोपंत) or Mayur Pandit (मयूर पंडित), was a Marat ...

(Paradkar) (1729–1794). Several scholars were experts in this field around the year 1900 but slowly their numbers dwindled. Laxman Ramchand (La Raa) Pangarkar was an authority on Sant-Sahitya and Pant-Sahitya. Tukaram and Ramdas were the last major poets of Sant-Sahitya and Bhakti Parampara. The next phase of Bhakti was marked by Pant-Sahitya. Around this time, other forms of poetry such as Powada, Phatka, Lavani also existed. Starting with Keshavasut in the late 19th century, Marathi poetry made a departure from Pant parampara. It became more modern in outlook, easier to understand, expanded its horizons, and the new brigade of poets was also influenced by English poetry.

References

{{Reflist Marathi-language writers