Abstract
From the 13th to the 17th century, Maharashtra’s saint-poets employed devotional verse in the Varkari style to significantly influence their homeland’s social and cultural life. Many people know what they did for the Bhakti movement and Marathi literature. However, few understand how they transformed society using the subversive application of daily Marathi poems. This paper examines how women poets like Janabai and Bahinabai, as well as saint-poets like Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, and Tukaram, used the Marathi language to fight against caste systems, encourage social equality, and create community identities that include everyone. This paper examines their abhangs and other forms of poetry to show how their daily writings challenged Brahmanical authority, disseminated spiritual knowledge to more people, and empowered marginalized groups—especially Dalits and women—using the book to make the case that the vernacular poetry of the saint-poets was a radical act of resistance that prepared the ground for social transformation in Maharashtra and had a long-lasting impact on India’s anti-caste movements.
Keywords: Saint-poets, Varkari, Bhakti movement, vernacular poetry, caste subversion, social transformation, Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram, Janabai, Bahinabai, and equality.
The Bhakti movement, a devotional tradition emphasizing personal devotion to God over elaborate rituals and ceremonies. The Varkari sect worshipped Lord Vitthal in Pandharpur. In the Varkari sect, the pilgrims are called “wari.” The Varkari pilgrims make a pilgrimage from Dehu in Pune to Pandharpur in the Solapur district in Maharashtra. In the Varkari tradition, the pilgrims and bhaktas worship Lord Vitthal, Lord Krishna. The Varkari sect produced outstanding persons, including Jnaneshwar (1275–1296), Namdev (1270–1350), Eknath (1533–1599), Tukaram (1608–1650), and women saints like Janabai (1263–1350) and Bahinabai (1628–1700). Their devotional songs written in Marathi addressed many issues from many backgrounds and spiritually united them. Though no study has been done on how they employed subversive vernacular poetry to alter society, much study has been done on their religious and literary achievements. This paper contends that the saint-poets’ adoption of Marathi as a medium was a conscious act of opposition against Brahmanical cultural power. It lets them encourage inclusive communal identities and question caste structures. Using Marathi rather than Sanskrit, the language of the elite, was a radical change in medieval India, when religious books were solely accessible to upper castes. Writing in Marathi, the saint-poets made spiritual knowledge accessible to all. This encompassed women, Dalits, and other underprivileged groups. Their poems denounced inequity, ritualism, and caste-based oppression. It prepared the ground for later social reform initiatives, including those spearheaded by Mahatma Phule and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. This paper examines the works of significant saint-poets, mostly their abhangs, devotional songs, and other forms of poetry, to observe how their daily writings shaped society. This paper demonstrates how the saint-poets challenged institutional inequities and advanced a social justice vision using historical texts, translations, and secondary sources.
The Varkari sect is one of the most important religious cultural movements, which began in the 13th century. Vithoba is the main deity of this sect, who is considered as one of the avatars of the Lord Vishnu; he is called Vithoba and Vitthal Panduranga also. The Varkari sect saint poets rejected rigid caste hierarchy and unnecessary elaborate religious rituals; they said that one can attain salvation by complete devotion to Lord Vitthal. Every year millions of Varkari pilgrims reach Pandharpur in Solapur district from Dehu of Pune district on the holy Ashadhi and Kartik Ekadashi.
Varkari sect poets rejected the caste system and communal discrimination; they considered all the devotees equal. Varkari saints expressed their devotion in abhangas in easy and lucid language. All the Varkaris led a very simple life; they believed in nonviolence, truth, service, and nam smaran of the Vitthal.
Sant Gyaneshwar was one of the main saints of the Varkari sect; he was a great saint, yogi, and philosopher. He is known as Gyandev or Gyaneshwar Maharaj. He was born in Aapegaon near Paithon in Maharashtra. At a very early age he got involved in spiritual Sadhna. He lived only up to 21 years of age, but before that he contributed a lot to the enrichment of the Marathi language and spiritual world. He took his samadhi in Alandi near Pune. His Gyaneshwari is the Marathi translation of the Bhagavad Gita; it is also known as Bhavarth Dipika. In this book all the philosophical ideas are explained in lucid language; it is known as the basic pillar of Marathi literature and the bhakti movement. He wrote another philosophical granth, which analyzes the oneness of Atma and Parmatma of Advait Philosophy. Sant Gyaneshwar said that we can get salvation through complete devotion and good deeds. He rejected the idea of caste hierarchy, untouchability, and the idea of high and low. He gave the message of equality and love through his literary works and personal conduct. He inspired the other saint poets like Namdev, Eknath, and Tukaram.
Sant Namdev Maharaj is one of the major saint poets of the Varkari (sampraday) sect. He was born in 1270 in the present-day Hingoli district of Maharashtra; he was a tailor (Shimpi) by caste, he travelled in many states and went up to Punjab, and he wrote a great number of abhangas. His Abhangas are full of the message of devotion to God, equality, and love. Some of his abhangas are included in the Guru Granth Sahib. He is also revered in the Sikh religion. He said God is of all and God is omnipresent, he rejected the institution of caste, and he said a true religion gives importance to devotion, love, and service to the marginalized, and he said, “God is my friend and my everything.”
Sant Tukaram Ji Maharaj was born in 1608 in Dehu near Pune. Tukaram wrote thousands of abhangas. He was of the opinion that bhakti liberates everyone irrespective of caste, creed, and status; bhakti to the god is an open road to all, and anyone can tread it. Devotion to God and good conduct with all is the real religion; he is known as the king of abhangas. Sant Eknath was born in Paithon; he opposed all the evil practices like superstitions, untouchability, and all conservative ideas prevalent in the society. Eknath wrote Eknath Bhagwat, which is the translation of Bhagwat Puran; he wrote Rukmini Swayamvar, Bhavarth Ramayan, abhangas, bharud, and Ovya; and he used to stay with low-cost untouchable people of the society. Sant Janabai was born in Gangakhed in 1261. She used to stay in the house of Namdev as a maidservant. She wrote abhagas, which highlight the problem of women’s lives, and she encouraged the women to lead a dignified life through devotion to God. Sant Muktabai was the younger sister of Sant Gyaneshwar, Sant Nivritinath, and Sant Sopan Dev. She wrote one of the most celebrated abhangas, “Now I understand.” Her language was lucid, meaningful, and spiritual.
Sant Chokhamela is considered one of the leading Dalit saint poets in the Varkari tradition; he said real devotion is beyond caste identity. He considered Sant Namdev his guru; he was born in the present-day Buldhana district of Maharashtra in the 14th century. He wrote abhangas where he highlighted the pain and problems of low-caste people.
Marathi was a democratizing agent, unlike the religious writing in medieval India, which was largely written in Sanskrit, and the saint-poets penned in Marathi were quite distinct. Brahmin priests and instructors spoke Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas and Puranas. Most men and women from lower castes could not pick up Sanskrit. Many consider Jnaneshwar to be the originator of Marathi literature. He broke beyond this limit by writing the 9000-couplet on the Bhagavad Gita in Marathi, known as Bhavarth Deepika or Dnyaneshwari. Once locked up in Sanskrit, this “divine knowledge” was released for common people (Smith 17). Jnaneshwar’s decision to write in Marathi was a question of taste and a subversive act against the Brahmanical control over holy writings. Similarly, Namdev—a tailor by caste—wrote abhangs in Marathi, stressing equality and loyalty over customs. Some of his poetry, which is included in the Sikh Adi Granth, reflects his belief that all God’s followers are equal and that castes are unimportant (Zelliot 34). Speaking to the masses in their tongue, Namdev made spiritual talks open to everyone. This allowed persons from lower castes to participate in religious life. Part of this vernacular movement were women poets like Janabai, a maidservant from the lowest caste who utilized Marathi to emphasize her loyalty and protest harsh socioeconomic conditions. Like “Casteless is my Lord Vitthala,” her abhangs sharply attacked the caste system and declared that everyone can experience divine love (Smith 23).
Using Marathi literature to transform society, the saint-poets damage the power of the Brahmin priests, who employed linguistic barriers to maintain rank hierarchies in place, by not speaking Sanskrit. Their native poetry united individuals of many castes and sexes on the Varkari pilgrimage to Pandharpur, helping devotees feel they had a shared identity. Before contemporary anti-caste movements, this friendly feeling of community identification provided underprivileged groups a platform to exhibit their value and strength. A major component of medieval India, the caste system was largely changed by the poetry of the saint-poets. Based on Brahmanical principles, the caste system assigned low-level jobs to Dalits and persons from lower castes and granted people jobs and social status. Many of the saint-poets—among them Jnaneshwar, a Brahmin; Namdev, a tailor; Chokhamela, a Mahar, a Dalit caste; Janabai, a maidservant; and Tukaram, a tradesperson—wrote poetry criticizing the system and advocating equality. One outstanding example of this kind of rebellious potential is Dalit saint-poet Chokhamela, who lived in the 1400s; his abhangs say that all followers are equal before Vitthala and highlight how terrible it is to be treated differently according to your caste. “The caste system is a lie, for God lives in every heart,” he states, among other things (Zelliot 45). Though his friends avoided Chokhamela, his poems challenged the notion that Dalits were less significant and argued for his spiritual equality. Chokhamela’s ideas inspired later anti-caste intellectuals such as Ambedkar. To critique Hinduism’s caste system, Ambedkar modelled Chokhamela, called the “crown of Maratha sainthood,” and Tukaram used his straightforward and honest abhangs (Zelliot 56) to voice opposition against caste injustice. “Tuka says caste is but a shadow; the soul is one with Vitthala,” he notes in one song (Smith 89). Many, particularly from lower castes, related to Tukaram’s emphasis on spiritual oneness over societal divisions. Their humanity was validated, and they found themselves in his poems. Local Brahmins advised him to trash his poems since a Shudra had no right to produce holy songs. This revealed he was challenging their authority. According to Varkari hagiography, Tukaram’s heavenly power helped him to be cleared after defying the norms. This captures the subversion of Tukaram’s work.
Women saint-poets such as Janabai and Bahinabai extended this critique by highlighting the interactions between caste and gender. Janabai was challenging both caste and masculine conventions by penning songs from the point of view of a low-caste lady. It was difficult to distinguish the holy from the ordinary in her abhangs, as Vitthala was often depicted as someone who assisted her with her daily troubles. Bahinabai, a Brahmin woman mistreated at home, claimed spiritual freedom through her poetry. “My heart is my temple, and Vitthala is my guide,” she penned (Smith 112). Through emphasizing their experiences as women and—in Janabai’s case—as someone from a low caste, these authors expanded the range of societal transformation to encompass equal rights for men and women.
Written in the Varkari tradition, the local language poems of the poet-saints not only battled caste hierarchies but also inspired everyone to feel as though they belonged to them. People from all castes and classes travelled to Pandharpur yearly to venerate Vitthala. This was a real-life illustration of the egalitarian concepts their poetry explored. Scholars have noted that the Varkari sect “gave great thought as to seeing the deities in humans.” They held that everyone, regardless of caste or gender, lives with divine presence (Patil 23). The abhangs of the saint-poets were chanted during these pilgrimages, so people were gathered spiritually and culturally across social boundaries. Eknath, for instance, penned Bharuds, folk songs with allegory and humor meant to question hierarchy and inspire group action. His writings, including Eknath Bhagwat and Bhavarth Ramayan, helped many people grasp complex sacred texts by simplifying them, supporting the Varkari concept of accepting everyone (Zelliot 78). Those who visited pilgrimages and sang abhangs together felt like they belonged in a society. They felt viewed as Varkaris rather than from certain castes. Dalit saints like Chokhamela and women poets like Janabai have a place in the Varkari culture to exhibit their social and spiritual value. The saint-poets give bhakti (devotion) more weight than they do jnana (knowledge) or karma (religious conduct). This made everyone freer to reach for redemption. “There is only love for Vitthala; there is no caste or creed,” Namdev added (Smith 34). This concept of spiritual unity opened the path for social transformation by challenging the restricted practices of Brahmanical Hinduism. “The Legacy of the Saint-Poets in Modern Anti-Caste Movements” is an idea on how the subversive use of local poetry by the saint-poets impacted Maharashtra’s social reform movements, particularly the anti-caste battles of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Leading proponent of India’s campaign against caste, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar drew inspiration from the saint-poets, particularly Chokhamela. Ambedkar matched Chokhamela’s condemnation of caste with his rejection of the oppressive policies of Hinduism. Ambedkar discusses the Varkari technique as an early effort to oppose caste in Annihilation of Caste, but he critiques how it cannot work in a Hindu environment (Ambedkar, Annihilation 65). Reformers like Jyotirao Phule, who founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to support education and social justice for people from lower castes, were inspired by the saint-poets’ emphasis on equality and making the sacred text available in a common language (Omvedt 67). Phule’s use of Marathi ballads and handouts to reach a broad audience was similar to how the saint-poets used everyday media to bring about social change. The Dalit literary movement of the 20th century, which claimed Dalit identity and battled against caste discrimination by using Marathi literature, was likewise shaped by the friendly attitude of the Varkari legacy.
Still, the legacy of the saint-poets has drawn criticism. Since many stayed Hindu, which Ambedkar finally rejected, some analysts claim that their emphasis on spiritual equality did not necessarily result in social equality (Patil 28). Still, their native poetry gave them a cultural and ideological foundation for challenging caste, empowering underprivileged groups to see a more equitable society. As they aimed to alter the caste system, the saint-poets greatly impacted society but also had to cope with many challenges. Tukaram’s struggle with local priests and Jnaneshwar’s banishment from society for his unusual behavior (Zelliot 62) indicate that Brahminical opposition was challenging. Though they came from Hinduism, the saint-poets drew on the Varkari practice, open to all but with Hindu foundations. This complicated their ability to destroy caste structures. Ambedkar claimed that the emphasis on spiritual equality of the Bhakti movement meant it did not always address the actual causes of caste-based violence (Ambedkar, Writings 3: 92). Furthermore, not everyone approved of the egalitarian idea of the saint-poets. Followers from upper castes did not always want Dalits and women included in Varkari customs. Chokhamela, for instance, was advised that he could not enter the Pandharpur shrine (Zelliot 47). These issues reveal how constrained the approach of the saint-poets was, as it concentrated on cultural and spiritual rehabilitation instead of systematic political or economic transformation.
Finally, the Maharashtra saint-poets challenged caste structures and created inclusive community identities that were open to all using subversive Marathi poetry. Writing in Marathi made spiritual knowledge more easily accessible and undermined the authority of the Brahmanical caste system. Using the Varkari tradition, their abhangs and other types of poetry questioned caste-based discrimination, advocated equality, and created a forum for individuals from many backgrounds to exchange their traditions. People who loved Jnaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, Tukaram, Janabai, and Bahinabai shaped Marathi literature, but they also helped develop the concepts central to present anti-caste activities. Their work lives on in Maharashtra’s social reform groups and the continuous struggle for equality, while running into difficulties and having a restricted ability to act. This little-known feature of their vernacular poems as a means of social reform highlights their significance in handling India’s systematic disparity.
Works Cited
Ambedkar, B. R. Annihilation of Caste. 1936. Navayana, 2014.
Ambedkar, B. R. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches. Edited by Vasant Moon, vol. 3, Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1987.
Omvedt, Gail. Seeking Begumpura: The Social Vision of Anti-Caste Intellectuals. Navayana, 2008.
Patil, S. G. “The Role of Saints in the Formation of Maharashtra.” ResearchGate, 18 Feb. 2012
Smith, Paul, translator. Poet-Saints of Maharashtra: Selected Poems. New Humanity Books, 2013.
Zelliot, Eleanor. From Untouchable to Dalit: Essays on the Ambedkar Movement. Manohar Publishers, 1996.
