Mahipati (1715 - 1790) was an 18th century

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

hagiographer who wrote biographies of prominent Hindu

Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

sants who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and other regions of India.

Early life

Mahipati was born in a

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 * * ...

Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family of

Shakala Shakha Shakala Shaka (Sanskrit:शाकल शाखा); IAST:''Śākala Śākhā''), is the only surviving shakha (from skt. ''śākhā'' f. "branch" or "recension") of the Rigveda. The Śākala tradition is mainly followed in Maharashtra, Karnataka, K ...

and

Vasishta Vasishtha ( sa, वसिष्ठ, IAST: ') is one of the oldest and most revered Vedic rishis or sages, and one of the Saptarishis (seven great Rishis). Vashistha is credited as the chief author of Mandala 7 of the ''Rigveda''. Vashishtha an ...

gotra to Dadopant Kamble who was the hereditary

Kulkarni Kulkarni is a family name native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (''kula'' and ''karni''). ''Kula'' means "family", and ''Karanika'' means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title g ...

(record keeper) of Taharabad in present day

Ahmednagar district Ahmednagar district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ɦ(ə)məd̪nəɡəɾ is the largest districts of Maharashtra, district of Maharashtra state in western India. The historical Ahmednagar city is the headquarters of the district. ...

of Maharashtra. Dadopant and his wife were devotees of

Vithoba Vithoba, also known as Vi(t)thal(a) and Panduranga, is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is generally considered as a manifestation of the god Vishnu, or his avatar Krishna. Vithoba is of ...

of Pandharpur. After his father's death, he inherited the job of Kulkarni for Taharabad. He also worked for a local Mughal landlord. After falling out with his landlord, Mahipati devoted the rest of his life to performing

Kirtan Kirtana ( sa, कीर्तन; ), also rendered as Kirtan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts ...

s on lives of saints, collecting information on these saints and writing their hagiographies.

Works

During his life, Mahipati played down his abilities, his hagiographies of the

Varkari Warkari (Marathi: वारकरी; Pronunciation: �aːɾkəɾiː Meaning: 'The one who performs the ''Wari) is a sampradaya (religious movement) within the bhakti spiritual tradition of Hinduism, geographically associated with the Indi ...

saints are considered to be the most authoritative. Mahipati claimed Varkari sant

Tukaram Sant Tukaram Maharaj (Marathi pronunciation: ̪ukaːɾam was a 17th-century Marathi poet, Hindu ''sant'' (saint), popularly known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, Tukoba in Maharashtra. He was a Sant of Varkari sampradaya (Marathi-Vaishnav tradition) - ...

as the inspiration for his writings. Although in early part of his literary career he relied on works by

Nabha Dass Nabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district in the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the capital of the former Nabha State. Nabha is also a sub-division city which comes under Patiala district. Geography Nabha ...

and Uddhava Ciddhan for his biographies, he soon realized shortcomings in their accounts of the saints and started collecting information himself. Mahipati, at times, during his life wrote multiple biographies of the same saint. He included any new information he obtained about the saint in his newer biographies. He also believed that the lives of the revered saints can not be grasped in a single sweep. Callewaert et al , therefore call the later biographies as the "revised editions of the old books. Mahipati wrote his biographies in the Ovi metre. Christian Lee Novetzke considers Mahipati's work to be a kind of transcribed kirtan. Indeed during his life mahipati, per Novetzke, was known as a kirtankar (Kirtan performer) rather than a writer. ;Selected Works

Legacy

*An English translation of ''

Bhaktavijaya Maha Bhakta vijaya is a Marathi text by Mahipati around 1762 that extols the deeds of the saint-poets of the Varkari sect of Hinduism. It has been translated into various languages in India and is widely read. It forms an important part of the praye ...

'', originally written by Mahipati around 1762, was published under the provisions of the will of American Missionary, Justin E. Abbott in 1933. * Mahipati's town of Tahrabad has declared as a pilgrimage site by the government of Maharashtra. A pilgrim guest house has been constructed in the town for Mahipati devotees. *The pilgrimage complex in tahrabad includes his house, a Vitthal temple and a memorial to Mahipati consisting of a Tulasi Vrindavan. *Mahipati used to perform the annual

Pandharpur Wari Pandharpur Wari or Wari is a ''yatra'' to Pandharpur, Maharashtra, to honor Vithoba. It involves carrying the ''paduka'' of a saint in a ''palkhi'', most notably of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, from their respective shrines to Pandharpur. Ma ...

during his lifetime. The tradition continues with his symbolic sandals taken to Pandharpur from Tahrabad by his followers.

Gallery

Image:Mahipati Aad.jpg , Mahipati Well in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Samadhi.jpg , Mahipati Memorial in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Devshtan.jpg , Mahipati Temple in Taharabad Image:Mahipati Paduka.jpg , Mahipati Paduka ( Ceremonial Sandals) in Taharabad

References

Notes Citations 1715 births 1790 deaths 18th-century Indian biographers Bhakti movement Hagiographers People from Ahmednagar district Writers from Maharashtra {{India-writer-stub