C H A P T E R I V : T H E S O C I A L C O N T E N T S O F

“ B H A K T

Section l.Sadhana Bhakti:Pilgrimage Bhajana and KTrtana

^ NamasmaranaMathas and Bhakti Sampradaya Temple Worship

2:Bhakti yoga:— Bhagavata Dharma.— Application of Advaita Bhakti to Day to day Life.

3:True Bhakta:— His Way of Life.— Ramadasa’s Mahanta.

4-I.SSdhana Bhakti.

As we have seen in earlier chapter, bhakti is of two kinds, viz., sadhana and sadhya bhakti. The former is the means to attain para-bhakti which we have discussed in the previous chapter. Sadhana bhakti, it can be also called sadhana ^hakti. In this section, I would like to consider the social content of bhakti in connection with religious practices of the bhaktas. It is called sadhana bhakti. Nine- forms of bhakti (navavidha bhakti) can come under sadhana bhakti as we have already discussed. Pilgrimage is not included in the Nine forms of bhakt^, but it plays an important role iii the practice of bhakti-marga. So, in this section I shall consider the pilgrimage, bhajana-kirtana, namasmarana, and Matha and temple worship as the means to attain para-bhakti.

4-1-1.PiIgrimage.

Pilgrimage is found in the major historical religions; Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and so on. The concept of pilgrimage exists in all such major religions, although, not unexpectedly, its meaning varies widely within the canonical structure of each religion. And the origin of the pilgrimage or pilgrimage­like behaviour can be traced back to the period prior to the establishment of major religions.' What do people expect by

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undertaking pilgrimage? It seems that people undertake pilgrimage with an attitude of sakamata, such as to attain heaven, or to attain mundane happiness. The pratice of the pilgrimage would be useful only when there is right perspective. Otherwise, there is hardly any difference between pilgrimage and a pleasure trip .

The nature of Hindu pilgrimage is expressed in the word "t1rtha-yatra", which literally means "undertaking a journey to a holy place or river" ^. The term "tirtha"(root tr) is defined by Monier-Williams as " a passage, way, road, ford, stairs for landing or for descent into a river, bathing- place, place of pilgrimage on the banks of sacred streams, piece of water".^ S.R.Bhardwaj clearly mentions the meaning of pilgrimage as follows, " Pilgrimage, though not one of the major recognized paths (as jnana-yoga, karma-yoga, and bhakti-yoga) of achieving moksa, is nevertheless accepted as a desirable practice to earn religious merit within a life lived according to dharma. It is one of the many ways toward self-realization and bliss."''

One more important factor in pilgrimage is Satsanga (company of holy men) . Satsanga is important to build up moral charachter; it is a chief means to moral education. When you come into contact with the men of noble character (Sadhus), sharing the same experience, they, by their behaviour and teachings, create moral impact on you. That is why in Indian tradition, company of great and good characters is considered to be essential to moral and

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spiritual development. Jfianesvara mentions the importance of satsanga; " Then on the strength of the company of the virtuous and under the guidance of the scriptures, he crosses the waste low--lands in the form of births and deaths. " (J. 16-441) Ekanatha, another saint-poet of Maharashtra who lived in the 16th century, also refers to the importance of satsanga in his Abhahgas; " Sahgati ya god vai snavanci 1 " ® All the saint-poets present the importance of satsanga in their writings and the Abhahgas. The Upanisads mainly preach asceticism, living in remote places for spiritual search. But the Bhagavadglta, and the saint-poets insist on ” a synthesis of action and renunciation".'' This means that living worldly life and at the same time seeking the renunciation. Here satsanga occupies an important role.

Pilgrimage is also important for the pilgrims for receiving spiritual impact and inspiration . E.Zelliot states the importance of pilgrimage as follows," The Pandharpur pilgrimage has features in common with otherpilgrimages--the sense of oneness with other pilgrims, thejoyous quality of both the journey and the arrival at the center, the V.Turner's idea of a catchment into which many streams flow, and of course the imporatnce of the siteitself--it is in many ways unique ".® Two significantfactors which contribute to the development of the bhaktas are 1) holyness of the places themselves, 2) satsanga. To visit holy places with holy men contributes to the moral

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development of ordinary men. Piliqrimage, going to the holy places together, has a cumulative effect OM the mind of man. And this is considered the seed of sort of religiouseducation. The idea of pilgrimage is to help people to confirm their determination of religious life and givesocial encouragement to each other. So it may be said thatthe process of pilgrimage, such as pilgrims walking up to the holiest place of God, is like a metaphor of the process of sadhaka's attaining God.

In the Bhagavata sampradaya of Maharashtra, such pilgrims are called Varkari. To be Varkarl means toundertake "vari". For Varkari, pilgrimage itself is the main aim. . When we consider pilgrimage, we cannot avoid scrutinizing the practice of Varkari sampradaya as a concrete example, to examine the real meaning of piligrimage. The word Varkari itself signifies thecharachter of this sampradaya. Etymological meaning of Varkari is " one who journeys to Pandharpur at the fixed time" . The main practice of a Varkari is pilgrimage. AVarkari is supposed to go on the pilgrimage to Pandharpur every year. It is not an observing an obligatory rule for the Varkar1 , but as fulfilling an essential and well-loved promise. That is why there is no special sanction for the Varkari who would not perform his annual pilgrimage. The problem does not even arise; the Varkari is too keen on his pilgrimages and never misses any of them with his free will.

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It is a proverb amongst Varkarls that: " if one of them isnot seen at the pilgrimage he must be dead or dying."'"G.A.Deleury defines Varkarl as follows: ” He is a man whoalthough living in the midst of his family and carrying on his profession or trade, has pledged himself to reach moksa through the way of bhakti, and by devotion to Lord Krsna in the form of VithobS of PandharpQr, and to go on pilgrimage to that place every year at the fixed time, guided on the road by the society of the saints. He is also a strict vegetarian. They have a strong aversion to any form ofrigorous asceticism or fanatical devotion."'' Varkarl sampradaya has no specific church. Pilgrimage is the main factor to strengthen the unity among the members of the sampradaya. S.G.Tulpule points out, " It is a spiritual movement, or rather a body of spiritual groups gathered round saints belonging to PandharpQr."'^

G.A.Deleury mentions the excellence of pilgrimage as a means,:" the moksa promised by Bhakj:i is open to all, its method of purification is possible for all and not restricted to the fortunate few who are able to leave the world and isolate themselves in forests or deserted places.It first requires the strict observance of all the rules ofthe Hin^u Dharma and the keeping away from all food except vegetarian. It is on this background that the Varkarl method is the pilgrimage." ' •'* It is not necessary for seekers of the Ultimate Reality to resort to the forest. Pilgrimage is

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an easy means for any kind of people. If they have will to undertake the pilgrimage, and keep themselves as vegetarians, anyone can pursue this sadhana. There is no esoteric element, but it is open to all.

We shall consider the important aspects of pilgrimage. Pilgrimage plays not only a religious role, but also a social role. The practice of pilgrimage provides a powerful medium of communication for the commonality which united the Maharastrians. V.Thakur tells us," one can see social relationship among the pilgrims’ groups and the society. This enthusiasm and the spontaneous spirit has a great impact on the rural as well as the urban areas of Maharashtra along the journey"''' . On the way to Pandharpur pilgrims pass or stay one night or so in villages. Even the villagers, who cannot join the pilgrimage, share the merit by offering pilgrims help and hospitality. And they can get an oppotunity to sit at bhajana and klrtana programme. G.A. Deleury refers to two main functions of Varkari pilgrimage;

It is a religious activity essential in the formation of Varkar 1 and, at the same time a powerful way of spreading the panth and promoting the religious education of the people " . Therefore, pilgrimage plays an important rolenot only in developing individual ethical sense, but also in promoting the social awareness of the people.

Again G.A.Deleury points out," The pilrimage must be considered as a real "tapa". A special line of mortification

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will give to the Varkarl the opportunity to exercise the virtues required for getting at the perfect 'bhakti'".'® It means that pilgrimage is not only a means to attain para- bhakti, but also has great importance by itself as a spiritual discipline.

The saint-poets preach universal, spiritual and ethical values within the broad framework of the traditional varnasrama-dharma. Bhaktas can listen to all the preachings of saints through bhajanas and k rj ana during the pilgrimage. Even illiterate bhaktas can understand the holy teaching of saints by listening to bhajana and kirtana, and share the experience with the other bhaktas. Accordingly, the pilgriamge provides all necessary discipline to a Varkarl.

Jfi§nesvara criticizes the practice of pilgrimage as follows:" If you perform your duties as yajha, you need not observe vows or self-restraint or torment your body or go on a long pilgrimage." (J.3-89) ' But he does not deny the practice of pilgrimage. He mentions in his Abhanga that pilgrimage is useful to the development of the sentiment of bhakti (bhakti bhava) by providing congenial atmosphere.

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4- 1 -2.Bhajana and Klrtana.

Bhajana and klrtana are included in the Nine forms of bhakti. They are important means to attain parS-bhakti. In this section, I shall consider bhajana and klrtana, from the point of view of how they are important to attain para- bhakti, especially according to Bhagavata dharma in Maharashtra.

Bha jana and klrtana are very essential means to pursue bhakti-marga. Etymologically, bhajana is derived from the root 'bhaj', meaning " to share, to enjoy, to adore, to worship Bhajana, therefore, means " sharing, service,adoration, worship." These days we are using 'bhajana' in a special context, that is," a hymn, or a piece of a verse to be sung to a god." Bhajana consists of singing the glory of the God putting to the best use one's ability of singing in general. But the specific meaning of bhajana in Maharashtra, especially for Varkarl sampradaya, is singing the devotional songs of the Saints. In Varkarl sampradaya, bha jana and kIrtana play an important role in attaining para-bhakti. Because, VarkarIs have acguaintance with their teaching rather through bhajana and klrtana than through written scripture. In this section we shall examine the role of bha jana and klrtana and see how effective it is to pursue bhakti-marga.

In fact, bhakti through bha jana is a dialogue between the God and the bhakta. Bhajana can be said to be a mediator

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between the God and the bhakta. The bhakta can feel his God close to him by singing and being engrossed in bhajana. One important merit of bhajana is that it is easy to practice for every bhakta equally. P.C.Engblom says; " What makes bhajan so attractive a sadhana (spiritual means) is that it is comparatively accessible to the common man or woman and does not require esoteric disciplines. Bhajana is an act of the most complete self-abnegation and total self-surrender to Vitthal." Through singing bhajana the bhakta can haveeasy access to God. This bhajana is equally accessible to all bhaktas. Varkar 1 is also "on the road" engrossed in dancing and singing of bhajanas. G.A.Deleury also mentions;

The singing of the hymns is one of the most important functions of the pilgrimage. As most of the pilgrims are illiterate, the singing of religious hymns is for them what the reading of spiritual books is for other communities. It is through the medium of these hymns that the Varkarl traditions and teachings are transmitted from generation to generation." Singing bhajana is not only important to have access to God, but also to get proper knowledge about teachings of their tradition. Thus the Varkari tradition is precisely to adapt its methods of moral and spiritual teaching to the cultural level of simple people. The privious saint-poets have written huge amount of poems which contain moral and philosophical teachings. Therefore singing and listening to bhajana have more important meaning.

Klrtana also provides the same method as bhajana. In

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the BP., it is said that in this ka 1 iyuga (i ron age) only namasanklrtana can be given priority. “ Kirtana is some kind of religious exposition of devotional text-Abhariga, in between, a k1rtanakara (performer of kirtana) speaks to audience, interrupting now and then his preaching for the singing of some pious hymns bearing on the same topic. Kirtana consists of bhajanas, Abhaiigas, and narrations. It is necessary for the kirtanakara (performer of kirtana) to study the scriptures and quote passages from them from memory. The first object of this should be one's own happiness, for kirtana brings peace of mind and at the same time shows to others the path of Bliss. " Rhythmic accompaniment making singers and audience together forget their physical existence in a kind of trance which makes the whole body airy." ’’ There will be a possibility of mass ecstacy. Sharing this kind of ecstacy with other bhaktas is also one important aspect of kirtana. Through music, people become spiritual. Because, music can be used for promoting devotion. At the same time, it has another aspect also. Music can be indulged in for its own sake.® The promoters of bhakti would look at the art of music from the religious point of view. Bhajana is no more bhajana if it is devoid of devotion to God. Always devotion sould precede the art of music.

As is stated, bhajana is a strong instrument to keep the popularity of Varkari tradition among masses for a long period. Jnanesvara mentions the importance of kirtana,

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Thus by loudly singing My name, my devotees heal the miseries of all beings and make the whole world resound with bliss." (,7.9-197) ® Eknatha in his Abhanga says that kirtanais important for cittasuddi (purification of mind); " Hari-kirtana citta suddha| jaya bheda nirsuni| kama krodha paltl duri I hota bohari maha-papa|| "' “ " Karitan klrtana-sravana |antarmalace hota ksaranaj ' Performing and listening to kirtana is the same as washing the dirt of the mind. Tukarama also gives the importance of kirtana as a strong means to attain God like many other saint-poets," kirtana is the meditation of God Himself.... There is no merit on earth which is equal to that of the kirtana. Believe me, says Tuka, God stands up where kirtana is being performed.... A man who performs the kirtana not only saves himself, but also others. Without doubt, says Tuka, one can meet God by performing a kirtana."

According to Y.B.Damle, one of the purposes of kirtana is; "social education of the people." It is actually aneffective medium of social education. He explains three kinds of kirtana, viz., Naradlya kirtana, Varkarl kirtana, and National kirtana. National kirtana is obviously a modern development. N3radlya kirtana is the narrative type. On the other hand, Varkari kirtana is the panegyric type. Varkari kirtana is mainly in singing the glory of God and his Name. It is also known as nama-sanklrtana. The common aim of these three klrtanas can be said to be social eduation. A .Ranade speaks of the effectiveness of the kirtana as follows;

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" Firstly, it appeals to the solo as well as to the communal or the collective elements simultaneously. Secondly, it is multifaceted in the sense that it has speech, song, dance, mime and narration; therefore like a good dramatic piece it has something for every stratum of Indian society. The basis for its hold over the people are therefore comprehensive." ' ■*

It is necessary to explain in kirtana what is God's love, what is the knowledge of the self and the nature of the Supreme Spirit in simple and attractive way. Y.B.Damle refers to the content of kirtana, " The content of Harikathashould be such as to emphasize the Trinity of devotion, knowledge (learning) , and non-attachment. The purpose of Harikatha is to ennoble the audience and not to entertain. In fact Harikatha provides solace to the minds of people. It is broadly conceived, as an excellent medium of social education." The aim of kirtana is to impress on theaudience the identity of the Brahman with Atman, or of God with His devotee.

As G.A.Deleury puts it,: " Since Jnanadeva up to thisday, the golden rule of the Varkarl Klrtankar is to be understood by all. It needs to have been the personal witness of these night klrtanas to realise the mastery of preachers in putting in a simple and moving language the great trutli of their creed. The constant use of familiar images and striking comparisons, the many allusions to

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popular legends and traditions are the sure way to instil easily and deeply in the minds of their listeners the teachings of the great Saints of the past. The audience gives to these performances an eager and religious attention excited from time to time by singing of some Abhangas known by all and in which all gladly take part. The kirtana is indeed a method of popular preaching of great psychological value." Bhajana and kirtana are very important means tounite saints of the past and bhaktas of the present age. S.V.Dandekar comments on the significance of kirtana in Varkarl sampradaya;" ^l^tana and bhajan^ are the major means of making the Varkarls one with Bhagawanta (God) " 'Bhajana and kirtana provide bhaktas with mental preparation for getting one with God. While attending ^a^ana and kirtana programs people can share common experience and emotion, and gain deep awareness as bhaktas.

The art of performing kirtana is a rare guality kirtana can be said to be a synthetic art including deep knowledge of all kinds (philosophy, literature, drama, music, etc.) and performing talent. Therefore kirtana is aneffective method to guide people. Y.B.Damle refers to the qualities of kathakar (klrtanakara) as follows; " The first and foremost quality desired of Kathakar was a deep sense of devotion to God. The Kathakar should be steeped in thetraditional literature of the Varkarl Sect. In fact aKathakar should be a very faithful follower of the sect. Then of course he should have a fair amount of acquaintance

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with the Hindu Sastras and lores." If the klrtana isdone with intense love toward God, the audience definitely listens to it with interest and is impressed thereby.

Performing kirtana is a means to attain God. But attending kirtana programme itself has an important meaning. It helps bhaktas to gain knowledge about the well-known saints of past and their teachings. At the same time, bhaktas who are attending kirtana programme can participate in the kirtana by singing bhajanas and share intense love of God with the klrtanakara.

4 - 1-3.Namasmarana___________ i--

In the nine forms of bhakti, the third one is namasmarana. Namasmarana is known as namajapa, namasahklrtana, and so on. Namasmarana means," Bearing in or calling up into the mind the name or names of god " . 'Namasmarana is not merely chanting or repetition of the name of God. but constant remembrance of God. The thought of God should be ever present in the mind in prosperity and in adversity. Actually nama itself is avatara(descent) of God. Many saints and thinkers lay stress on the importance of namasmarana. Though the Bhagavata mentions namasmarana as one of the nine forms of bhakti, all the saints, especially the saints of Maharashtra, have given almost supreme importance to namasmarana. The Haripatha literature of the

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saints is a clear indication of this. Other kinds of bhakti can be said to be valuable only so far as they promote namasmarana, because except kirtana, all the remaining practices of bhakti are somehow ancillary and physical exercises (sadhana) . On the contrary, namasmarana is an internal exercise.^ Singing bhajana is important for concentration, but this is also to some extent, external exercise. Dictionary of Hinduism mentions; " An ecstatic state may be attained by the constant repetition of the name of god. The magical potency of name is so great that even a 'blasphemous' repetition of Krsna’s name may secure beautitude. This repetition of a god's names and epithets is a well-known liturgical form of praise and adoration, and also a means of meditatively identifying oneself with the god." '* Repetition and remembrance of the God's name destroys all inauspiciousness, increases auspiciousness, purifies the heart, increases bhakti and jnana which leads to moksa. All the bhaktas constantly remember God's name and attain moksa.---1-

It is universally believed that there are words of power, there are names of power. Almost every primitive religion has a magical convention that the person who knows the name of a thing can control it. They think that the name has a very strong magical power.

According to Hindu tradition, Saguna Sakara IsVara has also riama and rOpa (name and form) along with 'Asti, Bhati

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and Priya'. The whole of this Universe has both nama and rupa as its conditions of manifestation. Many discussions have been undertaken about the superiority of nama and rClpa. In fact, it is difficult to conclude as to which issuperior. But it seems that saints show preference for thenama. Because rQpa is destructible but nama is abiding. By nama we can imagine the nirakara God. Nama can be said to be a link between nirakara (without form) God and sakara (with form) God. The saints express their devotion tonirguna (without attribute) God that is beyond specific qualities; they show it through the faimiliar way of symbols of saguna (with attribute) God. Nama reaches the innermost of the bhaktas. S.G.Tulpule refers to the meanings ofnamasmarana; " It keeps him ever awake in his spiritualendeavour and it unites him with God Through constantremembrance of God, bhaktas can feel God close all the time. Thinking of God incessantly is the very core of bhakti.

The practice of namasmarana starts on the verbal level; but slowly it leads the practioner deeper and deeper, and finally leads to the para state. All saints emphasize namasmarana as the powerful means to attain para-bhakti . Consciousness of the Name leads bhaktas to the consciousness of the Reality that is God. It may be a slow process to attain God, but it is definite. Jfianesvara explains the process of realising God through namasarana confidently and beautifully. " Or if you are not able to devote your mind, heart and intellect in their entirety to Me, then dedicate

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your mind to Me for a moment everyday. The moment you experience the joy of communion with Me, that very moment you will become averse to sensual pleasures. Then as the water in the river dries up with the advent of winter, so your mind will become free from the bonds of worldly existence. Just as the moon wanes day by day from the full moon night to the new moon night when it disappears, so you will set yourself free from the sensuous enjoyments and slowly enter My being and become one with Me. " (J.12-104-109) «

The practice of namasmarana is open to all the people. It is simple and requires no skill to practise. Anyone can practise anytime and anywhere. There are no restrictions and no prohibitions of any kind to practise namasmarana. And still it is a very powerful means. Whether our mind is disturbed or at peace, namasmarana should never cease.

Jfianesvara asks us to devote ourselves to the name of Hari. He provides us with a rationale of the Name. His Haripatha is nothing but an explanation of the importance of repetition of God's name. The Haripatha is one of the important spiritual supports of the Varkaris. During the Pilgrimage, once a day the Haripatha is sung by all the pilgrims. Almost all the Varkarl people learn the H^ipatha by heart. In it, Namasmarana is known as nama-yoga , means "joining by the Name", because through namasmarana, bhaktas can be united with God.

In the Haripatha, Jnanesvara explains the real

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significance of the Name. According to Jftanesvara, the Name is saguna , nirguna and also beyond the gunas. It isunmanifest and formless. ® It is the glory of the Intellect. ® It is the fruit of the penance of countlesslives. It is ineffable. Even the Upanisads could notinterpret it. '‘ He clearly mentions the followingcharacteristic points of the Name. Anyone and everyone cantake the Name. ' No restrictions of caste, or lineage, or status. God does not distinguish between the learned andthe ignorant. ''' Jhanesvara warns the bhaktas, not to be without the Name even for a moment, and not to offer excusesof the b o d y . W e can see his philosophical approachtowards namasmarana clearly in the Haripatha . ThereJfianesvara puts stress on its simplicity and power as ameans to attain God. And in his ^hanga; " sara saraVitthoba nama tujhe sSra ”.'« ( Name is the essence of God) ." Nama baravayana baravanta" . ' ( Name is the best among the best means).

Jnanesvara refers to the importance of the Name in the Jnanesvarl also. " Om is my only name, nay, it is Brahman in the form of one letter. He who remembering this Supreme nature of Mine abandons his body, positively attains Me."(J. 8-1 18, 1 19) ' ® It can be said that the Name itself is avatara of God. The first verse of Jnanes^vari starts withthe salutation to OM as a primal Lord. Jnanesvara admits OM as the form of Supreme Self, the subject-matter of the Vedas. Some saints claim that the Name of God is more

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powerful than Hod himself.*'' " I am the Japayajna,sacrifice by meditation in this world, the supreme sacrifice of all; raised through the renunciation of all actions, from the meditation on OM the great Nama j^aya jha. " (J. 10-232,233)20 There is no ritualistic restrictions. " To be always reciting and repeating any one of the names of Gods Siva- Visnu, is what is called the austerity of S p e e c h ( J . 17- 223)2'

Not only Jfianesvara, but all the saint-poets ofMaharashtra insist on the importance of the namasmarana. Among the saint-poets, we find that Namadeva's insistence on the namasmarana is the strongest. " If I were to leave meditation on Thy feet even for a while, my lifebreath will vanish instantly. If there were a cessation of the utterance of the name of God in my mouth, my tongue will split athousand-fold ".Z2 •> Name of God is the Form of God,and the Form of God is the Name of God. There is no other remedy except the Name of God, says Namadeva, and anybody who says there is another is a fool Ekanatha alsorepeats the supremacy of the Name of God, " Remembrance of God is likeness of God, forgetfulness of God is illusion of life ".2 4 pjg declares positively, " To utter the name of God alone is bhakti ".2 5 ■■ Amongst all evanescent things,God's name alone is imperishable".^® According to Tukarama, the sole way to the realization of God is the constant repetition of the name of God. In his Abhangas he repeats the importance of the namasmarana. " If we only utter the

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name of God, God will stand before us " The Name willlead to God if no obstacle intervenes. A fruit becomes ripeon a tree only if it is not plucked ".zs " The ship ofGod's name will ultimately carry one across the ocean oflife. It will save both the young and the old ".29 Ramadasaasserts, " We should always meditate on God, and utter HisName. By the Name of God, all our difficulties aredispelled, and all our calamities are swept away. There isno distinction of caste in the utterance of God's Name.Small men as well as great men, the dull as well as theintelligent, have been saved by the power of the Name.Finally, we must take care that while we utter the Name ofGod, God's Form is also present before us ".3<> Namasmaranais not a monoplolized approach of saint-poets. Itsimportance is referred to in many other religions, and inmany texts of Hinduism. The reason of the popularity may beits simplicity and equality with everybody. By Name of Godand His constant remembrance, we can get ourselves connectedwith Gofl . S.G.Tulpule asserts that the practice ofnamasmarana is useful for replacement of the object of ourthinking that starts the process of changing the structureof our consciousness ‘ It is commonly believed that the

/jlva will become Siva through the- utterance of the Name ofGod. This means that once an individual soul starts to utterthe Name, which is a symbol of the Divine, it is ultimatelybound to become the cosmic soul. In other words, the Name is

fa strong catalyst to change jiva into Siva. And this can be

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practised by anybody, anywhere, anytime. There is no regulation to practise the Name. By the Name, we can always feel God's presence. Not only this, by the Name we can be united with God. Thus namasmarana plays an important role as sadh^r^. Namasmarana constantly reminds us of God, and His nature.

4-1-4.Matha and Bhagavata-Samprad§ya

When we consider the social content of bhakti, we comeacross the important role of Matha and Sampradaya asreligious and cultural institutions. Mathas are known as

centres of spiritual endeavour and headquarters ofdifferent kinds of saints and their religious activities ".'Matha is generally the habitation of holy men called sadhQ,sannyasi, satpurusa, mahanta, swaml and santa, and so on. In

/India there are many mathas of holy men who belong to Saiva, Vaisnava and other different sects. Mathas are built for_____- __*--keeping up their own religious propaganda among the people. It is famous that Sankaracarya founded four mathas in four directions in India, and those are functioning till now. He founded matha to come into close contact with the people and to preach to them. In old days, students stayed at the mathas and studied. People came to matha to listen to discourses of holy men.

Jainism and Buddhism were the earliest among the

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religions to establish mat^as. The matha of Buddhism isknown as vihara . The Jaina monasteries, " have four mainfunctions, i.e., charity of food, medicine, education, andresidence on a large scale and thereby consolidate thesocial basis of the sect in the locality " . The influenceof Jainism, which is a powerful monastic religion, on /Saivite and Vaisnavite mathas is considerable. Sometimes matha is a component part of the temple and in other cases it has an independent building. Matha is not only a building but a complete organization. So, matha belongs to sampradaya or pantha. Matha is translated as "monastery", but if we consider the function of the matha, it is more proper to translate it as a "religious mission or society ".

For considering the function of the matha, we shall refer to M .Thiel-Horstmann's interesting article regarding bhakti and sannyasa. She first shows L.Dumont's approachthat sannyasa (renunciation) contrasted with the practice of b^kjti. According to him, " renunciation is transcended by being internalized in order to escape the determinism of actions, inactivity is no longer necessary, detachment and disinterestedness are sufficient. One can leave the world from within, and God himself is not bound by his acts, for he acts only out of love. Devotion has come to take the place of deliverance. And in the case of bhakti, the renouncer is socially absorbed in the life of the man-in the-world " . M . Thiel-Horstmann considers matha as theplace of "institutionalized renunciation". The institution

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of renunciation is found to be present in some bhakti sects, whereas it is found to be rejected by others. According to her, sannyasa is different from foresaid "institutionalized renunciation". She says that " in the sannyasa-ritual the individual himself, or his guru on his behalf, brings about the candidate's ascent to the rank of a liberated being, while in bhakti only God's grace is thought to be able to bestow liberation. Liberation is not a ritual process but a lifelong struggle It can be said that matha is theplace for monks, nuns and laymen to practice bhakti. Bhakti is known to be practiced even keeping mundane life; for practising bhakti renunciation of active life is not necessary. So, matha provides proper environment to bhaktas to practise bhakti including service of society.

For the proper functioning of a matha, somecharismatic leader who can influence the followers is required. He is necessarily an outstanding bhakta. The head person of the matha is called the mathapati, maharaja, or phadakar1 . Mathapati, and so on, is eqivalent to guru. He will give dlksa (initiation) to his followers. We can show the concrete example of R§makrishna matha or mission. Ramakrishna matha was led by Swami Vivekananda who had faith in, and philosohical background of, Ramakrishna. Without hischarismatic character Ramakrishna matha could not have__________________ 1___

functioned so \/ell. The Ramakrishna matha lays special emphasis on the universality of the fundamental teachings of Hinduism, such as the divinity of man, the Advaita and

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spiritual charachter of the ultimate reality, the insistence on religion as realization and not as mere creed, and the essential harmony of all r e l i g i o n s . T h e i r activities, particularly in the field of education and medical and other relief are worthy to be noted. In Maharashtra we have plenty of mathas and sampradayas which are founded by prominent saints. Among them we shall examine the case of Ramadasa, who established many mathas all over Maharashtra. Ramadasa sought to harmonize life dedicated to God with the activities of the world. He sought to combine spiritual and practical life (Prapanca and Paramartha) . He had an urge to lead people to the service of God. According to Ramadasa, an ideal saint is a practical man, who works for the good of the society. " An ideal saint is he who lives in solitude, always gives himself to meditation, and spends his time usefully in the service of God along with other men. He cultivates in himself the best of qualities, and teaches them to the people. He collects men together, but in secret. He always has some work to do, and leads people to the service of God."® From this reference we can understand his clear idea of practical way of life. For him the ideal saint is not only a holy man, but also practical and a leader of the masses. The ideal saint should consider not only his own spiritual progress but also social welfare and happiness of all. He aims at upliftment of the society at large. In this context he needed the place to gather people and preach to them.

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By this, we can understand the social function of amatha. Matha can be said to be a centre for not onlyspiritual development but also for social work as service of God. Matha provides an occasional place to people to develop their individual and social awareness. There people get guidance of a guru, and stimulate each other as followers. Matha is the place for education of the masses. There is a saying of Tukarama, " ekameka sahaya karQ| avaghe dharO sapanthaj " (people help each other in the course of spiritual progress.) Thus mathas play a very significant role in the society.

Jnanesvara refers to matha as the methaphor ofunchangable space. " If the monastery (matha) is pulled down, the space inside it which is of the same form remainsintact in its original form." (J.2 - 1 4 2 ) " Those who know Me as Adhiya jfia from beginning to end, regard the body as a cloak and remain in Me, as the hermitage (matha) , filled with space, remains in space." (J.8-59,60)® There is no special reference to the function of the matha in the Jfianesvari.

4-1- 5.Temple-Worship.

Idol worship in the house and in the temple is a very old tradition in Hinduism. For worshipping God collectively, the temples have been built. A temple can be said to be a place where the love and devotion to God felt by a community

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finds expression. A temple is a centre of community life, where all members of the community come together, forgetting their differences. A temple is considered as an earthly abode of God. People come to the temple to get darsana ofGod, and perform pQja. R.N.Nandi refers to the relation of bhakti movement and the increase in temples, " The cult of devotion (bhakti) largely explains the popularity of the temples. It gave all persons, high or low, an opportunity to serve the god and aspire for liberation " . ' Many Hindutemples were built after Gupta period.^ According to Nandi, " The growing desire of religious orders to recognize their systems on the basis of new social values and material needs shows through the large-scale construction of temples andallied institutions in the early medieval period

The fundamental role of a temple can be said to be to link the world of Gods and the world of man. Here man may come to contact Gods, hence the attempt to carve stone images or figures to recreate the celestial environment of Gods was made. A temple gives us the sense of sacredness. A temple should be a peaceful place where one can shareharmony and inspiration. A temple provides the place to come together for various religious purposes. Through performing

together, a sense of belongingness is created. A temple is the place where offerings are made. A temple can be said to be the place to express one's own faith in God; show concrete activity for worshipping God, such as offering flowers, singing praise of God, dancing for pleasing God.

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The direct worship of Gods and Goddesses forms the focalpoint of religious activities within the temple precincts. The various rituals help the devotee to unify himself with God. Thf re are many pujarls (priests) in the temple toconduct different rituals and pQja. A.L.Basham describes the pQja in the temple, " The god is offered water for washing the feet, flowers and betel quids, like an honoured guest. In the morning he is ceremonially awakened with the sound of music, the ringing of bells, and the blowing of conches. He is washed, dried and dressed. He is honoured with flowers, galrands, incense and swinging lamps; he is fed, usually rice and fruit, of which he eats the subtle part, leaving gross material food for his worshippers, or to be given tothe poor... he is taken to his bedroom at night where hejoins his wife or wives. In large shrines he is fanned by attendants and entertained by dancing girls (devadasls) like any ancient Indian King " .

In the temple precincts, klrtana is performed, bhajanais sung; people gather and join these functions and share common holy experiences. A temple provides a place for religious gathering. This togetherness contributes to religious awareness of ordinary people. A temple is a centreof common worship, and a cultural centre, as well.

Festivals are an important part of the temple worship and during festivals, performances of sacred music, bhajana, klrtana, drama and dance are given in honour of the deity in

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the temple precints. By celebrating festivals together, a sense of unity of community is felt. During, the annual festivals, deities are taken out in procession (jatra) . Festivals are the special occasions for the devotees to gather together. Festivals are important for religious purpose and entertaiment as well. They were especially so in the ancient times.

When we take a glance at Indian cultural history, we can understand the important position of the temple in it. There we can see the development of performing arts, architectural skill, and art of sculpture and painting. Through all art, people learn the entire mythology and the deeds of gods. Art was direct mode of communicating to the masses the religious myths, stories, and beliefs in thePuranas. In this context, a temple plays an important role in the mass education. We find in all the temples an attemptby the i raftsmen to render the world of the Gods in visibleand accessible form. People can feel Gods close in thetemple. Through visible construction of the temple, people can imagine the world of the Gods. " People evolved a personal and anthropomorphic notion of gods, generalized the concept of incarnation to include incarnation in any form, emphasized the personal and domestic ritual symbolizing the veneration of a person, stressed japa and dhyana alongwith the emphasis on the use of image and temples." ® A temple provides holy environment to the devotees, and at the same time, provides the place of activity for the artists. To the

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devotees, a temple was regarded not merely a place of devotion, but also an object of devotion like the image of God. The worship of a temple is also seen in the performance of going round the temple (pradakslna) . A temple can be said to be a concrete example of the synthetic expression of Indian cultural history. Temple worship includes all sorts of art. So, we can say that temple worship functions not only as social but cultural institution.

Esp'cially in the ancient times, the temple was the most important centre for the people. A big temple was built mainly under the patronage of the king. So, the temple was the object to show the power of the king. It was wealthy, and at the same time, a source of wealth to the town from the many pilgrims who visited it. Such a temple had a large piece of land, many employees, including priests, musicians, dancers, and craftsmen. A.L.Basham mentions, " Under royal patronage, temples were constructed and became the principal repositories of wealth and religious art. Textbooks on

/temple design (Silpa sastra) were composed, detailing every aspect of a structure that was considered symbolic of the cosmos." ® A temple is needed for our spiritual growth. The wealth of the temple may be used for various religious, social and cultural activities. Thus a temple plays an important role in the society.

Jnanesvara does not make any special reference to temple-worship. But he uses the temple as similies for

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discussing the dissolution of the three-fold Knowledge. He says, "In the same way the knower becomes the agent. Just as one used to eat a ready meal should have to start to cook, or the bee should have to begin to make a garden, or the touchstone should itself become the metal to be tested or the deity itself should have to build its own temple, so the knower, longing for the sense-object, makes his senses toil hard to get it and becomes the doer (J. 18-491~ 493)In other place, he critisizes the Mimamsakas's way of understanding of ahimsa (non-violence) and says, " The Mimamsakas hold that when animals are killed in sacrificial rites, this slaughter is tantamount to non-injury. This is like construction a hedge at the foot of a tree by cutting its branches or like satisfying one’s hunger by cutting and cooking one's hands or like building an enclosure to the sanctuary with the materials obtained by pulling down the temple ". (J.13-218~220) ® From these examples, we can guess that temple-worship was common in JRanesvara's time. The Jhanesvar 1 itself was stated by Jfiane^vara in front of the audience in the temple of Nevasa. This is the concrete example to show the social function of the temple.

We have plenty of examples that the places have close connection with the holy persons converted into the mathas and temples. Jfianesvara's samadhi-place at Alandi itself was converted into a temple. It gathers hundreds of thousands of devotees for long time. The temple of Jnanesvara is emotional prop of the followers of Bhagavata dharma.

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4-2-1.Bhagavata Dharma.

Bhagavata dharma is known for worshipping of VSsudeva,identified with Krsna, Visnu and His avataras. Bhagavata

• # * t 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dharma is an old cult. Origin of Bhagavata dharma is difficult to trace. It is believed that Krsna-Vasudeva was a* 4 t

historical person who belonged to the Yadava Vrisni orSattvata tribe, originally inhabiting Mathura, and who wasthe same as Krsna-Devaklputra mentioned as a disciple ofGhora Angirasa in the Candogya Upanisad (III-17-6) ' . All thatcan be said is that this cult grew outside the orthodoxBrahmanism, and that it was monotheistic. Bhagavata dharmacan be said to be the middle way between the extremes ofBrahmanism on the one hand and indigenous folk-religion onthe other. It taught bhakti as the best means to moksa . Thiscult has been spread all over India, absorbing the localdeities as avatSra of Visnu. Bhagavata dharma is the mostpopular Bhakti Sampradaya of Hinduism. D.Chitre says," Bhakti is founded in a spirit of universal fellowship. Itsbasic principle is sharing. The deity does not represent anysectarian dogma to the Bhakta but only a common object ofuniversal love or a common spiritual focus."'” The firstphase (upto the 13th century) of this dharma is concernedmostly with south India. Vaisnava poet-saints known asAlvars preached ekantika bhakti (single minded devotion) forVisnu. Its doctrinal aspect was supported by the saints

/known as the Srl-Vaisnava AcSryas. Especially 12 Acaryas

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were famous. Among them the early noted Acaryas were Yamunacarya and Ramanuja. They developed the doctrine of the Vislstadvaita (qualified non-dualism) on the basis of some Upanisadic texts in opposition to Sahkaracarya's doctrine of Kevala-Advaita. They attempted to reconcile bhakti with theother paths for moksa like jfiana and rituals and mixed theteachings of the Vedas, the Upanisads, the Gita and Alvars. Madhavacarya and Nimbarkacarya came later.

Here in this section, mianly the Bhagavata dharma in Maharashtra will be considered. Before the time of Jfianesvara, there was the rise of Natha sampradaya in different parts of India. Maharashtra was also no exception. Natha sampradaya laid stress on hatha-yoga as considered in the section on ”Jnanesvara's raja-yoga" in the present thesis. Another important cult known as Mahanubhava was also preceded Jnanesvara. Cakradhara was the founder of theMahanubhava . He rejected ritualism and the authority of the Vedas. " He taught that every person, whether man or woman,high-caste or low-caste, could gain release. He admitted four eternal principles: God (paramesvara) , life(jlya) , thegods (devata) and the world (prapanca) . God is one, while souls, the gods and the world are many. The world ismaterial, and can never attain release; the gods can never gain complete release, while souls are capable of enjoying eternal bliss, in union with God. From time to time God descends to the earth. The Mahanubhava sect stressed renunciation, a fact which shows that it was strongly

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influenced by Jainism.'"'* They worshipped gods Datta and Krsna. Among MahanubhSvas self-mortification for attainment of moksa was encouraged.

The distinctive feature of Bhagavata dharma in Maharashtra is Advaitic concept of bhakti. While generallythe other parts of India are under the influnece of Dvaitaconcept of bhakti. In Maharashtra, mainly Jfianesvara, and other saints including Ramadasa, propound Advaitic concept of bhakti. It is called Advaita-bhakti, or Jnana-bhakti. Here, I will mainly discuss the Varkar1 pantha or sampradaya. The origin of the Varkarl pantha also cannot be traced clearly. It is generally believed that the Varkarl pantha had exsited for centuries before Jfianesvara. Inscriptions show that at about A.D.400 Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur, the deity worshipped by Varkarl was widelyknown.^ Therefore this pantha was prevalent before the time of Jfianesvara. Bahinabal wrote famous Abhanga, " Santa krpajhalll imarata phala 311|| Jfi3nadeve racila paya | raciyele devarayal" From this Abhanga we are prone to understand that Jfianesvara is the founder of Varkarl pantha. But B.Upadhyaya suggests, " In fact JfiSnadeva was a pillar of strength to the sect in its earlier period of existence, since he notonly organised the followers of the sect into one compact body biJt also presented them with a monumental literarywork-- his learned commentary upon the Gita-- in an easy andelegant language for the sect to stand upon."''

Jfianesvara, Namadeva, Ekanatha, and Tukarama, the chief

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representative of the Bhagavata dharma were Varkarls. As VSrkaris, they regarded themselves as followers of the Vedic and the Bhagavata dharma. They contributed to enrichment of the literature of Maharashtra immensely. Their compositions have been sung throughout the times, even up today. Theyconvey the importance of practising bhakti and the virtues through their compositions. They express their ownexperiences of God in their works, especially in the form of Abhangas. They create deep religious sentiments in the hearts of people.

G.A.Deleury defines the Varkarl as follows, " He is a man who although living in the midst of his family and carrying on his profession or trade has pedged himself toreach moksa through the way of bhakti and by devotion to Lord Krsna in the form of Vithoba of PandharpQr, and to go on pilgrimage to that place every year at fixed times, guided on the road by the society of the saints. He is also a strict vegetarian."^ V^rkari sampradaya is unigue in many ways. First of all, they have no church kind of thing;Vitthala temple in Pandarpur is the symbol of their worship, but not functioning as a church. The annual pilgrimage is the only time for the V3rkarls to gather. The pilgrimage is the most characteristic aspect of this sampradaya■ The name "Varkarl" itself seems to be originated from the practice of pilgrimage. " The word Varkari is composed of the two words ’vari’ and 'karl': 'vari' has a very definite and almost

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technical meaning. The root 'var' means time as in the expressions three times, four times and so on; so, 'varl' stands for the regular occurrence of the pilgrimage to PandharpQr, the annual going and coming from that sacred place. 'Kari' means the one who does; Varkarl therefore means one who journeys to PandharpQr at the fixed time."“ The followers of this sampradaya take a vow of keeping vegetarian, and wear tuIslmalS (rosary of tulsl) as a sign of this. There is no specific initiation ceremony to be member of this pantha. Those who want to be members of Varkarl express their desire to join the pantha in front of the leader of one of the Varkarl groups. " He must bring a roasary of 'tulasl' beads which Guru tells him to put on the book of Jnanesvarl, set on a low table in front of him. The candidate then pledges himself to go regularly to PandharpQr on the fixed dates, and to live a straightforward life according to the Hindu 'Dharma'. Thereupon the Guru places the Tulslmala round his neck, and gives him spiritual advice, enjoining him to lead a life of service and respect to The Saints, and to observe all Mondays, the two Ekadasls and the two Pradosas as the days of fast."' There is no esoteric ceremony. The pantha is open to everybody who can keep basic regulations. There are people from many social strata. E.Zelliot points out three elemets of Varkarl tradition, " implicit criticism of Brahmanical narrowness, egalitaranism in spiritual matters, and family-centred life".® Even the householder can also practise bhakti in

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Varkarl sampradaya. These characteristic points seem to be the reasons for the popularity of V3rkarl samprad3ya.

As G.A.Deleury puts it, " The pilgrimage must be considered as a real 'tapa'. A special line of mortification will give to the Varkar 1 the opportunity to exercise the virtues required for getting at the perfect 'bhakti'".® The pilgrimage is important for Varkar1 not only for a means to get darsana of God Vitthala, but also for keeping their spiritual discipline. During the Varl, Varkar is sing bhajanas which were composed by the previous saints, and listen to kirtana; through these Varkaris can feel oneness of all and feel the great saints closer.

The Varkarl pantha follows the teachings of the great Maharashtrian saints, i.e., Jnanesvara, Namadeva, Ekanatha, Tukarama, and so on. Their prasthanas (basic works) are Jnanesvar1, Ekanatha Bhagavata, Gatha of Tukarama, and Abhangas of other saints. These prasthanas have been used in bha jana, kirt^a, katha, pravacana, and so on. They are the strong means to convey spiritual message to the masses. In Varkarl tradition, God Vitthala is definitely important to be spiritual centre, but the saints are also worshipped by their followers. S.G.Tulpule points out the uniqueness of this pantha," It is a spiritual groups gathered around saints belonging to PandharpOr". ' ” Thus the saints play an important role in the Varkarl pantha. They are following "Advaita-bhakti" of Jnanesvara. The teachings of Jnanesvara have been considered

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in the previous chapter; so, here, we consider additional teachings of other saints.

Namadeva put much stress on the Name of God as an efficient means to attain God. He says, " With a Vina in my hand, and with the name of God in my mouth, I shall stand up in the temple of God. I shall renounce all food and water, and shall think of nothing but God. I shall forget my mother, or father, or wife, or children. I shall lose all bodily consciousness, and merge it in the Name of God".'‘ He repeats the importance of the Name of God; he says that the only pursuit of value is the utterance of the Name of God.'^ Namadeva contributed a lot to form the Varkari sampradaya. He started the Varkari way of klrtana, and conveyed precious message to the masses. NSmadeva is believed to have been to Punjab. His touching padavali is included in the Granth Sahib, the sacred book of the Sikhs: " If I should bring apitcher,/ fill it with water/ And go to the world's living creatures/ Live in the water;/ God is in them all,/ Why need I bathe/ his image with water// Wherever I go/ There is Vitthala,/ In supreme bliss/ He ever sporteth.// If I should bring flowers/ And make of them a garland/ To worship the idol,/ The bee has already smelt the flowers,/ God is in the bee;/ Why should I weave/ For His image a garland?// If I should bring milk/ And cook rice in it/ To feed the idol,/ The calf has already/ Made the milk impure/ By tasting of it./ God is in the calf,/ Why to His image/ Need I offer milk?// God is with us here./ God is beyond us there./ In no

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place is God not,/ Nama bows to the Omnipresent/ Who filleth the whole world."'-'

Ekanatha followed in the footsteps of Jnanesvara in his philosophy and way of life as is stated before. " His attitude was more joyful (than Jnanesvara) .id he spoke of the Bhagavata Pharma as ' the palace of h a p p i n e s s ‘ Hislife epiodes show us his humble charachter and realization of Advai tic concept of bhakti in his every day life. Ekanatha contributed to not only philosophy, but also toliterature. G.V.Tagare states, " Ekanatha was a prolific writer. He contributed profusely to all the forms of literature in vogue in his time. But he was a saint, apreacher and a philosopher first. Being a gifted poet, he utilised his literary capacities for the uplift and spiritual education of the masses."'® One of his greatworks was the commentary on the eleventh Skandha of the Bhagavata Purana. There he describes the true Bhagavata dh^rma in his Ekanathi Bhagavata; " The highest duty according to the Bhagavata dharma, therefore, consists in relinquishing one's affection for one's belonging anddedicating them all-- wife, children, home, or even one'slife-- to the service of God" . (EB. 11-298) ' ® He clearlystates his Advaitic view, " The best of the Bhagavata perceives God in all beings, and all beings in God. He sees one God pervading the whole universe. Not only this, he realises that he himself is this all-pervading God."(EB.II- 644,645) ‘ Ekanatha ' s uniqueness, as compared with other

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saints, like in reconciliation of worldly and spiritual life. He balanced both worldly duties and spiritual pursuit. One more great contribution of Ekanatha was a production of reliable and critical edition of the Jfianesvar1.

Another prominent saint-poet in Maharashtra is/Tukarama. Tukarama was a contemporary of Sivaji. He

expresses his view in compositions of Abhangas and kirtana. His compositions are widely sung among people even today, and many of them are counted as proverbs. N . H . Kulkarnee states the reason of his popularity is that Tukarama's spirituality and longing for Vitthala is deeply steeped with humanism.'® His time was when Marathi literature was really in a flourishing state. It can be seen in his Abhangas. He was a householder, but not interested in worldly life. His Abhangas are simple, straightforward, and powerful. He was always contemplating on God. He repeats the importance of worshipping of God Vitthala, N .H .Kulkarnee points out, that Tukarama is at the summit and culmination of Varkari pantha'® . BahinSbai says that Jfianadeva laid its foundation, Namadeva built its walls, Ekanatha gave it a central pillar, and Tukarama became its "crown" or "spire"'®. In his Abhangas, he lays stress on seeing Vitthala in everything, the animate as well as the inanimate world. Tukarama believes that the Lord is present in the image of Vitthala in the Pandharpur temple. He affirmed the image-worship." Though Tukarama continues the practice of image-worship, he seeks to steer clear of idolatry. For he believes that

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God Whom he worships in the idol is transcendent in His intrinsic reality. He is not limited to the image Tuarama says, " He has neither form nor name. He has no place in which to seek shelter. Vitthala our mother and sister, is present wherever we go. He has i ) form nor does He change. He fills the entire creation." (TG.2935)^‘ Through his Abharigas, we can trace his spiritual experiences and development.

Ramadasa worshipped God Rama and Hanumana. He founded his own sampradaya, i.e., Samartha sampradaya, also calledRamadasi sampradaya. He was not a member of the Varkar1 pantha. From his teachings it is obvious that he is a follower of Bhagavata dharma. He sought to harmonize life dedicated to God with the activities of the society. Unlike his predecessors, he sought to combine spiritual and practical life, and showed interest in politics also. Hefounded many mathas and temples for the propagation of his faith. His teachings can be said to be the requirement of social situation. His time was hard for the Hindus. Spiritual inspiration for the Hindu was urged. N .H .Kulkarnee states, " Ramadasa was undoubtedly far more aware than the V3rkaris, of the religious anarchy, social degradtion andpolitical situation of his time and yearned for all-roundemancipation. It cannot be denied that activismcharachterised his teachings, that he possessed practical wisdom and was endowed with an intellectual pragmatism which he brought to bear upon spiritual life as well".^'' Ramadasa

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wrote the Dasabodha. Dasabodha is a book which gives advice on all aspects of life. His teachings are known as Maharashtra dharma, and spritual support for struggling with Muslim power.

The Bhagavata dharma in Maharashtra grew round the central image of God Vitthala, the saints knew how to synthesise the saguna (personal, and with attributes) and the nirguna (impersonal, and without attribute) aspect of God. Tho saint-poets of Maharashtra preached an easy means to the realization of God. Ekanatha says, " the ^guna or the Manifest is easier than the Nirguna or the Unmanifest. The apprehension of the Unmanifest is beyond the grasp of the intellect. Hence with discrimination and love, the aspirants concentrate their minds on the Manifest and save themselves easily. A mind can easily think of the visible rather than the invisible. Thus, idol-worship is meai for one who cannot realise His presence in all beings. Let a man begin somewhere, and by gradual steps he may be led to higher stage" (EB . 27-35 1 , 352 , 37 1) . =*

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In this section, we shall consider the applications of bhakti to day-to-day life.

Bhakti which is distinctly emphasized by the Bhagavata sampradaya of Maharashtra is " advaita bhakti”. It is elaborately discussed by Jfianesvara, especially in his Jfianesvarl. The conception of God which is involved in it is that of "Visvatmaka Deva", or "Sarvatmaka Isvara". The definition of bhakti-yoga given by Jfianesvara is very siginificant from this point of view. It is je je bhetebhOtaI te te manije bhagvanta| h§ bhakti yogu niscita| ^na majhall " [Whosoever you come across, you regard him as God. Know that this is my true Yoga of devotion] ' . This may be taken as the foundation of the Bhigavata sampradaya. Of course this principle is found in the Upanisads and also in the Bhagavadglta and Bhagavata Purana. Those are,;" Yas tu sarvani bhQtani atmani evanupasyati| sarvabhQtesu catmanam tato na vi jugupsatej " [He who on all beings ] :>oks as just in the Self (Atman) , and on the Self as in all beings — He does not shrink away from Him.] in the Isa.U.^

" SarvabhQtastham atmanam sarvabhQtani catmani| Iksate yogayuktatma sarvatra samadarsanah|| " [ He whose self is harmonized by yoga seeth the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self; everywhere he sees the same] " •'* and " Vasudevah sarvam iti " [Vasudeva is all] in the Gita. And

4-2-2.Application of Advaita-Bhakti to Day-to-day Life.

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Sarvabhutesu yah pasyed bhagavadbhavam atmanah| BhOtani bhagavaty§tmanyesa bhagavatottamah|| " [He who sees his own self (who is Hari Himself) existing in all beings as Brahman and realizes that all creations are established in his own self which is Brahman Himself, is the firemost of all d e v o t e e s ] T h e s e are philosophical foundations of the conception of advaita-bhakti which is also called jhana-bhakti by Jfianesvara. This has tremendous social implications. It provides the foundation for a sound philosophy of social work and service. The principle andfoundation of advaita-bhakti is the basis of social thoughtand man's behaviour. In other words, it is expressed inthree kinds of relation of man, viz., (1)man's relation with nature, (2)man's relation with society and (3)man's relation with himself. And each relation is determined by the other two relations. In Advaitic approach, the notion of "sarvabhuta" is very important. "BhOta" implies not only human being but also all beings, animate or inanimate. This notion includes all the three kinds of relation of man which we have seen. This can be said to be a truly universal religion. This embraces all creatures; it embraces not only humanity but the entire universe. In this sense the Advaitic Bhagavata dharma is wider than even humanism. It is truly universal. Advaita-VedSnta teaches us to identify ourselves with the entire Universe. It is a philosophical fact that vi.sva is a name of God <5») alone exists. In otherwords, it is the expression of the Advaitic realization

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through day-to-day life activity which makes for bh^kti or dharma. It is important to note that this kind of spiritual renaissance is badly required by the present world.

To conceive the identification of Atman with Brahman is the Vedantic approach. For a bhakta, to attain advalta- bhakti is the culmination of one's own sadhana. For bhakta, this oneness with God should be expressed in his day-to-day life. It tells us what kind of attitude we should develop towards others, and how to look upon others. This philosophy may be described as "attitudinal philosophy". The bhakti attitude is one which looks upon every being that is there in the world as a manifestation of God. And since there is Advaita between God and bhakta, this is also experience of Advaita with the entire Universe, which is Visvatmaka Isvara. So whenever we consider the social implications of bhakti , we should always keep in mind these two basic concepts, viz., (1)VisvStmaka Isvara and (2)Advaita bhakti.

As far as our day-to-day life is concerned, karma is the major premise. As a member of a society we should perform svadharma(prescribed duty) as the Gita doctrine of svadhrama teaches. But the question is how we should do it. The attitude which we take while doing duties constitutes yoga. That attitude is expressed either in . ne language of jnana or of bhakti. Jnanl and bhakta see themselves in all and all in themselves. This can be clearly seen in the "samya-yoga" of the Gita as I have already referred to

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above, " He whose self is harmonized by yoga seeth the Self abiding in all beings and all beings in the Self; everywhere he sees the same. " (G. VI-29) In short, we can say thatjfianl sees Self in all. This samatva is nothing but universal empathy, "feeling into" all beings high or low. The same notion is described in bhakti langu ge as follows, " He who sees Me everywhere and sees all in Me; I am not lost to him nor is he lost to Me. The yogin who is established in oneness, worships Me abiding in all beings, lives in Me, howsoever, he may be active." (G.VI-30,31)" Vasudeva is all." (G.VII-19) In short, Bhakta sees God in all. The saint-poets of Maharashtra also describe the same notion. Jfianesvara in his Abhanga mentions, " janl avagha janardana " (know all people to be God) ® . Ekanatha asserts in his Abhanga," sarvabhQtl bhagavadbhava And Ekanatha,in his Haripatha, says, "Hariciya dasa Hari dahl disa| bhave jaisa taisa Hari eka|" Ramadasa asserts, " Narayana ase visval tyaci pQja karlta javl| ya k3rane tosavavl| konltar1

kayaj ". (M. 15-9-25) They express the same notion indifferent words.

Both the jn^na-language and bhakti-language are based on Advaita; individual self is essentially non-different from the Paramatman or Brahman. It is somehow easy to understand this conception philosophically, but it is very difficult to practise it in day-to-day life. Ekanatha, in his Bhagavata, mentions how all the eleven senses can be directed towards God, " The Mind should always meditate on

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Him. The Ear should listen to the discussions of His greatness and mercy. The Tongue should always be active in uttering His holy name. The Hands should worship His image and the Feet should walk towards the holy temple, in which His image is installed. The Nose should smell the flowers and the tulasl leaves with which He is worshipped. The cast­off flowers of His worship should be placed on one's Head,and the water consecrated by the touch of His feet should beput inside the Mouth." (EB. 11-298-303) ® To know God aloneto be real is the true knowledge.

The first step of Advaita VedSntic view of reality is to conceive Atman as the same as Brahman. According to Swami Vivekananda's "Practical Vedanta", the essence of Vedanta in one word is to know that "you are divine", "Thou art That". He says, " As certain religions of the world say that a man who does not believe in a Personal God outside of himself is an atheist, so the Vedanta says, a man who does not believe in himself is an atheist. Not believing in the glory of our own soul is what the Vedanta calls atheism " . ' « According to Swami Vivekananda, Vedanta recognises only error, but no sin. And the greatest error is to think that we are weak. The difference between weakness and strength is of degree. Actually strength is already within us. Only we are not aware of it. It is necessary to manifest it. We can do everything, because we are almighty. We should know this.'"“ The second step is to conceive that God abides in everything and in every human being. The central notion of this is

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samatva (equality) . So to worship God is equivalent to service of all beings. Swami Vivekananda's "PracticalVedanta" is based on this conception. The service of allbeings is his way of sadhana. S . R . Talghatti says," It is an example of how true Religion of Vedanta can be brought into practice. It represents a harmonious reconciliation of the good of oneself with the welfare of the world, the motto being 'for the liberation of oneself and the welfare of the world.'" '' Swami Vivekananda refers to th^ importance of education as a powerful means of social regeneration. He defines education as, " the manifestation of perfectionalready in man ".12 defines religion as, " themanifestation of Divinity already in man S .R .Talghattimentions, " Religion and education go together because divinity and perfection go together; in reality, they are one and the same thing. From this point of view, education is the process of helping man to realize his perfection, or what is the same thing, to manifest the latent divinity. It is the process of making man a true human being " . ' As we have already seen in the third chapter, according to Jnanesvaia the world is not some independent entity apart from the Atman. It is the experience of the Atman beholding itself. (A.VII-280) ' B.P.Bahirat points out, " Inconsonance with his healthy and optimistic world-view, Jhanesvara fully brings out dignity and the real status of the individual soul."'® Jnanesvara asserts," The light of the Substance or Atman is the cause of the manifestaion of

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the Atman's beauty that is enjoyed by Atman himself."(A. VII-291) ' Atman vibrates in the form of the Universe. This is called "cidvilasa" ‘®. According to JnanesVara, Atman expresses itself in the form of the world. The world is the sport of Atman and the expression of Divine Love and Joy. " Innumerable forms and sights arise but one pure intelligience (cit) underlies all. " (A.VII- 124) ' « So,perceive that everything is Atman. In other words, " The world is neither a creation of Atman nor a real or illusory development of the Atman. Atman and the world are one. The world is a ' SphQrti' , i.e. a luminous appearance of the Atman." Here we have a philosophical truth expressed inpoetic language.

As we have already seen, in our society the performance of svadharma is taken for granted; what is important is the way we perform svadharma. " how should I do my duty ? " Theattitude required is niskamata as we have already mentioned. I should do my svadharma in the spirit of service to God. I will not expect anything in return, because every individual is a manifestation of divinity. So, worshipping God is the same as serving of all the beings. What Swami Vivekananda calls; " service of all creatures." Here, service of Sarvatmaka Isvara is the central notion. All our activities should be yajfia. Jfianesvara' s view about the principle governing our attitude is (1) tyaga and y^jna(Isvarasamarpana) , (2) service to all. The implication of

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this principle is described by, " sarvabhOtahite ratah (good to all creatures) This is the description ofbhaktas. They are engaged in doing good to others. Swami Vivekananda and Gandhijl’s concept of "daridranarayana" is one concrete expression of advaita-bhakti■ Helping others realises not only abhyQdaya but also nihsreyas. This is a basic but very important notion in the consideration of welfare of the society. The basic principle of Advaita,

Atmavat sarvabhQtesu " can be said to be Indian "Categorical Imperative"^

Jnanesvara's approach to moral philosophy can be summarised in the words "svadharma is pQja" . If you worship all gods by performing your duties, they will undoubtedly look after your w e l f a r e . "svadharma is yajha" . Do notworship other gods, instead, do your duty as a sacrifice restf ully. Work is the worship of God, and man's homage to God. Jnanesvara says, " If he worships such God pervading the hearts of all beings, by dedicating to him, the flowersin the form of performance of the prescribed duties,-- suchworship propitiates Him very highly." (J.18-917)^® His view of bhakti is the central notion of all moral gualities. Various moral virtues are aspects of one central virtue, which is bhakti. According to Jfianesvara the attitude should be,: " je je bhete bhQta te te manije bha^anta | " (J. IQ-118) R.D.Ranade observes, " Jnanesvara's greatoriginality consists in making a very acute and accurate analysis of the various moral virtues Jnanesvara uses

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many beautiful metaphors to explain different virtues. It makes the readers become conscious of the significance of the virtues and feels the necessity of enrichment of their lives with noble and high moral qualities. The saint-poets of Maharashtra are also conscious of performing svadharma . JnSnesvara clearly mentions the important role of the saints as the model members of the society by their moral conduct, " Just as a man having sight guides the blind by walking in front of them, so a wise person should display to the ignorant his duty by his own conduct. If he does not do so, how will an ignorant person come to know his duty and how will he understand the right path ? " (J. 3-156 , 157) ® Andthe large contribution of the saint-poets is, " They strove to inject a new spirit into the inner life and the social conduct of the masses. They sought to do this by turning towards the people, or rather by remaining in their midst all the time ".^o Among the saint-poets, Ekanatha worked a lot to make Jfianesvara' s teaching easier to understand. He achieved, " a synthesis of spiritual principles and practical virtues. The core of his teaching is that all daily actions, carried out with a pure mind and in a disinterested manner, assume a spiritual character ". i

From the above discussion, it can be said that while Swami Vivekananda puts Vedanta into the practice of religion, Jfianesvara puts bhakti into the practice of religion. But both the approaches are ultimately equivalent. It is while living active life as a member of society that

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we have to attain higher goal, and that can be attained only- through following the social implications of bhakti . Theyconstitute karma-yoga-- action in the spirit of servicewithout expecting any fruit (niskamakarma) , action foraction's sake, and doing good for all beings in the society.

Without sahyama (control) , practising raja-yoga is impossible. So we can say that karma is contents of sadhana, bhakti and jfiana are attitude and r§ja-yoga is the necessary training and discipline to cultivate bhakti and jfiana. Thusthe four yogas are closely related to each other. From theabove discussion we can say that morality and Atmasanyama- yoga are the minimum necessary conditions of attainingmoksa.___!-

Some historians criticize Bhagavata dharma as escapisii . It is generally believed that the Varkarl saints initiated people into the path of renunciation and so made them isolated from the society.^^ They mainly regarded bhakti as a social reform movement. According to their view, Dhagavata dharma is a path of inactivity and weakness. They compare Bhagavata dharma to the teaching of Ramadasa, which is known as Maharashtra dharma. They point out that Bhagavata dharma protects conventional social system and never opposes this. They say that Bhagavata dharma which is represented by Varkarl movement plays no social role but is

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merely an obstacle to social progress.G.B.Sardar expresses his views on the basis of this

kind of criticism, " The movement of the saints did embody a feeling for religious reform and for popular awakening, but it was no call for a social revolution. This in no wayimplies that the path of devotion was a path of escape ". a He continues, " The saints did not leave off with a merepreaching of the power of prayer; through their own conductand through their writings they fostered the virtues ofpurity of heart, devotion to duty, compassion for fellow-creatures, forgiveness, and charity He also assertsthat Ekanatha provides Ramadasa with the philosophical and religious supports, such as emphasis on the oneness of the inner life of the spirit and right conduct and also the unity of thought and practice. Ramadasa's th -ight as well as his style were influenced by the work of Ekanatha. Without Ekanatha's work Ramadasa's activities may not have been fulfilled.^^ The teaching of the saint-poets are not radical. In the sense, their teachings are within theaccepted social framework, not beyond that. They admit that varnasramadharma has to be followed. Among the saint-poets, Tukarama clearly mentions that varnas have no significance for realization of God. He says in his Abhariga, "Holy is the family, and holy the country where the servants of God are born. They have devoted themselves to God, and by them allthe three worlds become holy. Pride of caste has never made any man holy, says Tuka." (Abhg.3241) ® Tukarama critisizes

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the inequity of the varna system piercingly.N . H . Kulkarnee also expresses the same view as

G.B.Sardar, " They preached universal, spiritual and ethical values within the broad framework of the traditional varnasrama-dharma. The movement was never aimed at introducing structural changes in the society nor can mere preaching bring about a social transformation /pjgsaint-poets were not social reformers who try to change the system and order of the society. The V^rkari movement never aimed at the structural change in the society, but at the change in each and every person. They drew people's minds to the performance of duty and emphasized the all-round development of human personality. The saint-poets are live examples through their own lives, and their writings.

The historians quoted above misunderstand the real meaning of Bhagavata dharma. They only criticize surface of social phenomenon and never examine the role of the influence of their philosophical teaching on the masses. It is not agreeable to jump to a conclusion that Varkari movement has no social importance, on the basis of just one fact, that Bhagavata dharma admits varnasrama-dharma. G.B.Sardar concludes, " The movement of the saints was, therefore, not a reactionary force seeking to divert people from the social struggle; it was a movement for reform which, within the sphere of religious life, fought in an orderly manner for their rights Varkari movement maynot be a radical movement, but definitely plays an important

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role in people's moral development and their moral conduct. Their aim may be to wield a new kind of influence on life as a whole and to enrich it. In the matter of conduct the saint-poets advocate a tolerant and balanced approach. They deny the extreme asceticism. They suggest the way of "moderation". This "moderation" is an important factor for Varkar i movement to keep popularity for such a long period upto today and survive the persecution.'**’ Pspecially if we compare the fate of Mahanubhava to that of V5rkar j, we can see the clear contrast. J.Lele criticizes the Modern Hare- krsna movement in North America and draws its similarity to Mahanubhava, " its deviant aggressiveness and its rejectionof science and modern society are reminiscent of the radicalism of the Mahanubhavas. By revolting against a hierarchical social order without securing a material basis for such action, the Mahanubhavas became an easy prey for attacks by hegemonic classes " . ' He continues," TheVarkarl sampradaya also arose as a serious critique of the socio-religious order. It challenged the religious hegemony of the Brahmins and came to the point of threatening the medieval Brahmin-Ksatr iya hegemony " . ■< 2 K.Ishwaran accuses,

the lack of organization . was the cause of the ineffectiveness of the Varkar Is " . B.Nemade respondes to this," it was a consequence of the political powerlessness of the masses But at the same time Ishwaran admits thesocial role of the Varkarl sampradaya; "The tradition of Warkari saints was more socially oriented, but this

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orientation had the objective of making religion easier to practise socially " . ® Nemade tells," The Varkarl cult has evolved styles which are best suited to the resources of the underprivileged classes and, therefore, it never attempted to go beyond the moderate range of social change and preferred to work within the broad Hindu tradition " . ® Many critiques of Varkarl movement can be seen . But we cannot deny its populality even in the modern society.

The saint-poets are basically the preachers and teachers of spirituality who are interested primarily in bringing about the spiritual renaissance of the people. All movements are not necessarily revolutionary. The movement which is concerned with the depth of life works silently and slowly. The greatness of the movement of the saint-poets consists in bringing out clearly the social contents and implications of bhakti and insisting upon its application to day-to-day life. Of course, we admit that Bhagavata dharma has limitations as a social movement, because we can guess, from the lives of the saints themselves and their own verses, that the equality they state is confined to the religious field only. In social life the saints accepted the inequities of the caste system and did not protest much against its rigours.

M.C.Ranade might be the first scholar who links up the religious movements in medieval Maharashtra with the rise of the political power of the Marathas under the leadership of Sivaji. He elaborately discusses the social significance of

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the religious movements in Maharashtra. Here I would like to quote his synoptic view of religious movement in Maharashtra, " the religious movement, which , commencing with DnyandSv, can be traced to the end of the last century as a steady growth in spiritual virtues. It gave us a literature of considerable value in the vernacular language of the country. It modified the strictness of the old spirit of caste exclusiveness. It raised the Shudra classes to a position of spiritual power and social importance, almostequal to that of Brahmans.... It tended in all these waysto raise the nation generally to a higher level of capacity both of thought and action and prepared it, in a way no other nation in India was prepared, to take the lead in re­establishing a united native power in the place of foreign domination. These appear to us to be the principal features of the I ligion of Maharashtra, which Saint Ramadasa had in view when he advised Sivaji's son to follow in his father's footsteps, and propagate this faith, at once tolerant and catholic, deeply spiritual and yet not iconoclastic So, it can be concluded that the movement of saint-poets of Maharashtra was not revolutionary but still it became a foundation and spiritual support of the social reform movement in the nineteenth century.

One more great contribution of saint-poets is to the growth of the Marathi language. They wrote their religious teachings and Abhangas in Marathi. They provided a powerful

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medium of communication for the ordinary people which united the Maharastrians. People of Maharashtra pride themselves on their cultural heritage and have strong sense of identity as Maharastrians. Tliis is definitely the spiritual basis of the so-called Maharashtra dharma which is proposed by Ramdasa, and later social reform movements.

4-3-1.A True Bhakta-- His Way of Life.

We have considered the social content of bhakti in the previous sections. Here in this section we shall see the charactaristics of bhakta, and his way of life.

We have already referred to the classification of bhaktas in the Gita in the previous chapter, viz., arta, j i jfiasu, artharthl and jfianl. The Gita refers to the highest bhakta as jhanl-bhakta, and this jfiani-bhakta alone is true bhakta. " Of these the wise one (jHani) , who is forever inconstant union with the Divine, and whose devotion is single-minded, is the best. For I am supremely dear to him and he is dear to Me."‘ For him only VSsudeva is everything (Vasudevah sarvam iti) . Jnanl-bhakta means unison of jnani and bhakta. Bhakta who has jnana is called jfianl-bhakta. So it can be said that jnani-bhakta is the ideal and true bhakta. As a matter of fact, a true jftanl is a true bhakta.

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It is the same conception according to Jfianesvara. It is beautifully expressed in the JRanesvar1. Especially Jfianesvara brings out jflani equivalent to bhakta. He says," You have heard before that the devotee who attains union

with Me through this knowledge-cum-devotion, becomes one with Me. For, O Arjuna, I declared to you with outstretched arms in the seventh chapter that this jfiani-bhakta is My very soul. I taught this devotion as the best to God Brahma in the form of Bhagawata dharma at the beginning of the epoch. " (J . 18-1 130- 1 132) ' “

If we look at the descriptions of "bhakta" , " jnani" ,"yogi", "sthitaprajfia", "sannyasl", and "gunatita", and so on in the Gita, we see that they are more or less the same. Though they are different words, they point at the same kind of personality. All are known as "daivisampad-yukta", which means having the divine endowments which lead to moksa . ‘ In the Jfianesvarl, the term "santa" and "mahanta" are used in the sense of "bhakta", because all of them are the same in the final state of being. The terms are used for explaining the different aspects of the personality of the mukta siddha (realized soul) . From this point of view, we may say that they are used almost synonymously. Bhakta is the one who attains unity with God through intensive love towards God. Jnanl is the one who attains unity with God through realization of the oneness of j iva with the Supreme Being. According to the Gita, the state of "sthitaprajha" is;" when a man puts away all the desires of hi., mind, and when

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his spirit is content in itself, then he is c illed stable in intelligence (sthitaprajna) In the 12th chapter of theGita, we have the description of a true bhakta. The qualities of an ideal bhakta are described as follows; " who has no ill will to any being, who is friendly and compassionate, free from egoism, and self-sense, even-minded in pain and pleasure and patient."^ , " who is ever content,self-controlled, unshakable in determination, with mind and understanding given up to me , " He from whom the worlddoes not shrink and who does not shrink from the world and who is free from joy and anger, fear and agitation , " Hewho has no expectation, is pure, skilful in action, unconcerned, and untroubled "®, " He who neither rejoicesnor hates, neither grieves nor desires, and who has renounced good and evil ", " He who behaves alike to foeand friend, also to good and evil repute and who is alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain and who is free from attachment " He who holds equal blame and praise, who issilent, content with anything, who has no fixed abode and is firm in mind "®, " those who with faith, holding Me as theirsupreme aim, follow this immortal wisdom "'o. From these characteristic points, we can say that qualities of a true bhakta are closely related with the social virtues. In short, the person who takes a moderate way, never takes an extreme way and always considers other's happiness, and has patience and tranquility is a true bhakta. For becoming a true bhakta, first we should be morally good. Then only the

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Successively we will see the descriptions of true bhakta in the . " He who does not distinguish betweenself and others, makes no distinction between his own property and that of others, does not treat others' property in a manner different from his own, has an equal regard for all created beings, and who has brought his mind and passions under control, is the best of devotees."' ' " Hewho realises the manifestation of Divine powers in creation and looks upon all created things as having their existence in God, is the best of devotees."'* " He who takes all that happens in the world to be an illusion created by Vishnu and even while he enjoys all that can be perceived by the senses, neither exults nor grieves over them, is the best of devotees "He who, remembering Hari, is not overpoweredby fear, birth, death, hunger, thirst or suffering which attend the body, senses, mind and intelligence, and whichare the incidents of life on this earth, belongs to the foremost rank of devotees."'^ " He whose mind never gives rise to acts that are done with a worldly desire, who entirely relies upon Vasudeva as his sole stay is the best of devotees."'^ " He that never prides himself upon superiority of birth, race, work, caste or social rank, is dear to God."'® " He is the foremost among the Vaisnavaswho does not remove his heart, even for the twinkling of aneye, from the feet of that God who is sought by the gods, though he were offered all the riches of the three

pursuit of bhakti-marga is possible.

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worlds."''^ " He is known as the best of the devotees who has so fastened himself by ties of love to the feet of Harithat He can never forsake him-- Hari, whose name kills allsin, even if uttered unconsciously."'®

Swami Vivekananda mentions the true bhakta as follows, " The whole universe is to him full of love and love alone;that is how it seems to the lover. So when a man has thislove in liim, he becomes eternally blessed, eternally happy. This blessed madness of divine love alone can cure for ever the disease of the world that is in us. With desire, selfishness has vanished. He has drawn himself near to God, he has thrown off all those vain desires of which he was full b e f o r e ‘®

In the 6th chapter of the Gita, we have a long accountof the yoga discipline. And at last it is concluded that agreat yogi is a great devotee. " And of all yogins, he who is full of faith worships Me, with his inner self abiding inMe, him, I hold to be the most attuned to me in yoga."^°

We shall see, in this connection, the definition of jnana (jhana-laksana) in the 13th chapter of the Gita. The Gita says; " jnana is humility (absence of pride), integrity (absence of deceit), non-violence, patience, uprightness, service of the teacher, purity (of body and mind) , steadfastness and self-control. Indifference to the objects of sense, self-effacement and the perception of the evil of birth, death, old age, sickness and pain. Non-attachment, absence of clinging to son, wife, home and the like and a

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constant equal-mindedness to all desirable and undesirable happenings. Unswerving devotion to Me with wholehearted discipline, resort to solitary places, dislike for a crowd of people. Constancy in the knowledge of the Spirit, insight into the end of the knowledge of Truth. From the aboveenumeration of characteristics of jhana, we can understand that jfiana is also closely related to the moral virtues. Therefore, it can be said that the development of moral qualities is very necessary for proceeding on the jflana- mSrga. We are here reminded of the Socratic dictum "virtue is knowledge". Though the Glt3 does not give description of ajfiani in the 13th chapter, Jfianesvara gives elaboratedescription of ajfianl. Jfianesvara gives characteristics of a jfianl to make us understand clearly what jfiana is. ForJfianesvara jnana is akin to virtue.

According to the Git3, the real "sanny3sl" is the man who works with detachment in mind, not the one who puts on the symbols of renunciation and avoids work.^^ It isclearly stated in the Gita that sanny^sa is not abandoning of actions, but abandoning of the fruits of actions, and attachment, and doing karma (action) as the offering to God. It can be said that a real "sannyasi" is a person whopractises nisk^makarma.

The definition of "gunatlta" is seen in the Gita, chapter 14. "Gunatlta" means one who transcends the three gunas (qualities) , viz. , sattva (vitality) , rajas (passion) , tamas (darkness) . Gunatlta is, " he who does not abhor

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illumin 11-ion, activity and delusion when they arise, nor longs for them when they cease. " He who is like oneunconcerned, unperturbed by the modes, who stands apart, without wavering, knowing that it is only the modes that act." '* " He who regards pain and pleasure alike, whodwells in his own self, who looks upon, a stone, a piece of gold and iron as of equal worth, who remains the same amidst the pleasant and the unpleasant things, who is firm of mind, who regards both blame and praise as one."^® " He who isthe same in honour and dishonour and the same to friends and foes, and who has given up all initiative of action, he is said to have risen above the modes. From thesecharacteristics of gunat1ta, we can easily understand that the characteristics are more or less the same as those of the bhakta, sthitaprajna, jhanl, sannyasi.

The term " santa" is often used in the Jfianesvarl . P.Chaturvedi defines a santa as one who observes satya or suddha astitva.^’ The characteristic quality of a santa is often said to be ekarasa, the state of being entirely immersed in bhakti . Kablr, the saint from northern part of India who reconciled the teaching of Hindu with of Muslim, describes the general characteristics of the santa as follows; " Absence of hatred and desire, a tender lovefor the Lord, detachment from the pleasures of the senses--such are the marks of the santa.Jfianesvara says in the Haripatha that " all bhaktas who sing the praise of Hari are called santa, sadhu or saijana."^“ Tukarama provides the

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characteristics of a real santa in his Abhangas. He says," santa is calm and tranquil;^' a santa cares not for the evil talk of the world;® miracle-mongering is no test of spirituality;^^ a santa is afraid of none, not even death.'''' A santa, according to Tuk§rama, has a sense of absolute equality; " To us there are neither friends nor foes, for whatever I see, I see the vision of God. We, who are the sons of God, have become the fondlings of the people in the w o r l d . Santa Niloba also says," only those are santas whose supreme purpose is Vitthala only."®® In Maharashtra the santas are specially referred to as being Varkarl. According to R.D.Ranade, " Santa is almost a technical word in the Vitthala Sampradaya, and means any man who is a follower of that Sampradaya. Not that the followers of other Sampradayas are not Santas, but the followers of the Varkarl Sampradaya are par excellence ."®

From all the references, we can understand that what is commonly stressed is moral virtue. Therefore, an ideal bhakta is an ideal member of the society as well. The gist of all Lhe characteristics of bhakta, jflanl, sthitaprajna can be said in one word, that is, "samatva" . Samyabuddhi ® " (sameness of mind) is the behavioural aspect of the realization of the supreme moral law. Actually, samatva of mind leads one to the realization of God. God-realization and samatva are so intertwined that samatva, according to R.D.Ranade, is a condition and result of God-realization." Unless we preserve equanimity of mind we cannot reach God;

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and unless we have realised God, we cannot reach the highest stage ot equanimity."^®

Jfianesvara gives the description of the virtues. First of all, he speaks of h u m i l i t y . A c c o r d i n g to him, the first and foremost quality of santa is humility.'* “ If we attain the state in which we see God in all beings from Lord BrahmS to a gnat, and without discriminating between beings as great or small, humility automatically results. The next important virtue is harmlessness(ahinsa) . It consists of non-injuriousness either physical or mental. He gives beautiful metaphors to show the harmlessness. " The ideal sage does not even cross a stream for fear of breaking its serenity; he moves as a crane moves slowly on the surface of water, or as a bee moves slowly on a lotus, for fear of disturbing its pollen; the very atoms, he regards, as consisting of life; and therfore he walks softly as if by compassion. The road on which he walks is itself a road of compassion; the direction, in which he walks, is a direction of love; he spreads his life, as it were, below the feet of other beings; in order that he may be a source of happiness to all beings; he treads the earth as softly as a cat holds its young one in its mouth for fear of injuring them by its teeth. "■*' According to JfiSnesvara, ahinsa is not only non­in juriousness, but a more positive attitude such as consideration of others from the depth of heart. The other virtues according to Jnanesvara are sufferance"* , straight­forwardness''=* , purity'*'* , steadfastness'*^, self-control'* ® ,

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dispasssion^ , unattachment''®, and devotion to Guru'’’', and so on. JfiSnesvara identifies virtue with knowledge. According to him knowledge consists of the virtues.

Another important point is; we are told in the Gitathat it is only after God vision that true bhakti isgenerated in man. " He who, undeluded, thus knows Me, the highest Person, is the knower of all and worships Me with all his being (with his whole spir it) . " (G . 1 5-1 9) “ Tukarama also tells the same thing in his Abhanga that true bhakti is attained only after the vision of God. " holla sadbhakti yene panthe | sadbhakti zaliyS sahaja sakshatkara | " R.D.Ranade gives stimulating suggestion, " It is only when a man has attained to the full knowledge of God that he is able to meditate on Him with full devotion. In fact, highest devotion, and highest realization seem to be in reciprocal causation. Unless a man comes to possess the highestdevotion, he will not have a vision of God, and unless hehas the vision of God, true bhakti will not spring in him."^' This means that attaining jftana is indispensable for being true bhakta. Therefore, as we have mentioned before, bhakta is at the same time jflani and yogi. From this point of view, we can understand the synthesis of all the four yogas.

From the foregoing discussion we can say that an ideal bhakta is an ideal member of the society. An ideal bhakta is he who performs his own prescribed duty (svadharma) , serves

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all beings equally without expecting anything in return, and pursues the way of realization of the Ultimate Reality with intense love towards God. Love is a core quality of a bhakta. Love towards every living being is an indispensable quality as a true bhakta. And he is a virtuous and a morally perfect being. A true bhakta' s way of life is the life of harmony, in one word. The true bhakta is he who prays for universal happiness and harmony of the entire universe. We have clear reference to this in Jnanesvara's Pasayadana; "In short, let all three worlds be perfectly happy and may everyone desire to offer perpetual worship to the Primeval person (Brahman) and may those who live by the teachings of this work have perfect happiness in this and the next world

4-3-2.Ramadasa's Mahanta.

The social content of bhakti and the role of the santas as leaders of the society are very clearly brought out by Santa RSmadSsa through his concept of "mahanta". Mahanta is a santa who devotes himself to social service. He is a spiritual and social leader who considers upliftment of the society through organization. Such santa engaged in social activity as an expression of service of Visvatmaka Isvara is depicted by Ramadasa in the form of a "mahanta". Mahanta is necessarily a santa or bhakta; in addition to this, he

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should have qualities of a leader. So, it can be said that mahanta is a santa who gives social leadership positively. Mahanta, in short, is "leader santa". R§madasa established mathas as servicing centres for social regeneration or spiritual renaissance.

Ramadasa, in his Dasabodha, spares much space for the description of ideal santa(mahanta) . According to him,

The sage does not allow even a single minute to be wasted in vain. He does not live without the service of God for a single moment. He lives in solitude, always gives himself to meditation, and spends his time usefully in the service of God along with other men. He cultivates in himself the best of qualities, and teaches them to the people. He collects men together, but in secret. He always has some work to do, and leads people to the service of God."' According to Ramadasa, "mahanta" should be a santa who does socially oriented activity. He who considers not only his own spiritual progress, but the upliftment of all the members of the society is called a mahanta. S .R .Talghatti clearly mentions Ramadasa's definition of mahanta; " mahanta issanta plus great leader of the society who considers happiness of the society .

The way of mahanta is very hard to pursue. Mahanta should be selfless whenever he works for the society. Ramadasa continues, " A great man must be able to create great men. He should fill them with wisdom, and spread them

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broadcast through various lands Mahanta helps others toprogress. Senior mahanta trains other mahantas and spreads them throughout the society. V.H.Date tells us," Ramadasa produced hundreds of Mahantas and thousands of disciples whose main duty was to make people morally good and spiritually devoted to God " The Ideal Man loves to putforth effort, enters boldly on any enterprise, and does not shun work. He can live in the midst of difficulties, bear the brunt of action, and yet keep himself away from contact with it. He is everywhere, and yet nowhere. Like the Atman, he hides himself. Nothing can take place without his meditation; yet he is not himself seen. He makes people act without himself being seen ".® Mahanta lives in the society but his mind is totally aloof from mundane affairs. " Like the Atman, Ramadasa too was the doer of all things, but remained aloof and hidden at the back of all as the prime mover and support of all.”® His influence is so strong, that even in his absence, people follow his way of life. For influencing people at large, mahanta himself has to be necessarily a true bhakta and an ideal leader of the society.

For the endeavour of the upliftment of the society, mahanta first should know the situation of the society. For this purpose, Ramadasa founded many mathas to get deep into in the society and contact people. He has given instruction for knowing the real state of the society. "Regularly wander about new places; pay plenty of visits to countries "

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This advice might be for a mahanta. The other aim of establishing matha is more positive. V.H.Date mentions,

RamadSsa began to take more and more daring steps of establishing various other similar centres to carry on his two-fold mission of instructing the people to live an untainted ethico-spiritual life, and thereby flock together with strength and unity under one political banner of one mighty, just and benevolent Hindu ruler. These centres, which he called as Mathas, were spread by him all over the country ".® Ramadasa's activities were somehow oriented by the requirement of his time. That means his time was the most difficult period for the Hindus. The state of the society urged him to undertake this very way of his.

Ramad§sa's teaching can be said to be a synthesis of devotion of God and activism. R.D.Ranade mentions, "Ramadasa, more than any other Saint of the Maratha School, called peoples' minds to the performance of duty, while the heart was to be always set on God ".® Thi is none other than his definition of mahanta. So, mahanta is a keyword to understand his entire philosophy. According to the teaching of Ramad§sa, bhakti is a strong support to undertake activism. He puts much stress on bhakti and its social implications. For him, a bhakta or a santa is not sufficient; so, he presents the necessity of a mahanta for the progress of the society. In this context, mahanta is nobody but a true ideal bhakta, who always considers happiness and good of all and works for it.

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Ramadasa himself was a mahanta, no doubt. He always first did something by himself and had the experience for himself, and then only preached others to do the same. His preaching was backed up by his actions. So, we can say that the mahanta is personified in Ramadasa himself. Today we have similar example of the institution of mahanta and also matha in the form of RSmakrishina mission, and Swami Vivekananda can be said to be a modern Ramadasa, i.e. mahanta.

N O T E S

4-1-1 .(1)V.Turner:"The Center Out There;Pilgrim's Goal", in History of Religions.12 (3) ,p.191(2)The students Sanskrit-English Dictionary, ed.by V.S.Apte,(3)M .Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary.(4)S.M .Bhardwaj:Hindu places of pilgrimage in India,p.3(5)J.tr.by M.R.Yardi.(6)E.Abhg., ed,by Vinobaji Bhave.No.128(7) S .G .Tulpule -.The Divine Names in Indian Tr <dition,p . 134(8)E .Zelliot:" A Historical Introduction to the WSrkarl movement", in Palkhi by D.B.Mokashi, tr.by P.C.Engblom,p.33(9)G .A.Deleury:Cult of Vithoba.p.2(10)V.Turner, op.cit. ,p.195(11)G .A.Deleury, op.cit.,p.3(12)S.G.Tulpule:Classical Marathi literature,p.328

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(13)G.A.Deleury,op.cit.p.108(14)V.Thakur:"The W§ri to Pandharpur." Paper read in An Interanational Symposium on Pilgrimage,p.4(15)Deleury,op.cit.,p.109(16) ibid.(17)J.3-89,tr.by M.R.Yardi.

4-1-2.(1)V .S.Apte:The Student Sanskrt-English Dictionary.(2) ibid.(3)J .T .Molesworth:Dictionary, MarSthi and English.(4)P.C.Engblom:Paikhi,tr.of D.B.Mokashi,p.25.(5)G.A.Deleury;Cult of Vithoba,p.88.(6) BP. ,XII-3-51 .(7)B.Nemade:"The Revolt of the Underprivileged", in Tradition and Modernity in the Bhakti Movements, ed.by J.LelG,p.121.(8)S.G.Tulpule:The Divine Name in the Indian Tradition, p. 151 .(9)J.9-197.Tr.by Yardi.(10)Ekan5tha Bhajane,ed.by V.Bhave,No.117.(1 1) ibid.No. 118.(12) R.D.Ranade:^. ,p.322.(13)Y .B.Damle:"Harikath a A Study in Communication",BDCPRI, Vol.20,p.74.(14)A.D.Ranade:"Keertana:An Effective Communication", in his book On Music and Musicians of Hindoostan,p.109.(15)Y.B.Damle,op.cit.,p.78.(16)G .A.Deleury,op.cit.,p.107.(17)S.V.Dandekar:Varkari Pantha,p.79.(18)Y ,B.Damle,op.cit.,p.74.

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(1)J .T .Molesworth:Dictionary, MarSthi-English.(2)Gondhalekar (Godbole) Maharaji has elabolately discussed that Nama itself is avatara especially in this kal1-yQga in his discourses.(3)S.G.TulpulerThe Divine Name in the Indian Tradition,p.23.(4)M.& J.Stutley;Dictionary of Hinduism.(5) S .G .Tulpule-.Mysticism in Medieval India,p. 143 .(6)J.12-104-109.Tr by M.R.Yardi.(7)S.G .Tulpule:The Divine Name in the Indian Tradition, p. 26 .(8) ibid.(9) ibid.p.27.(10) ibid.(11) ibid.(12) ibid.(13)ibid.(14) ibid.p.28.(15) ibid.(16)R.D .Ranade:Santavacanamrta.J.Abhg.No.14.(17)ibid.J.Abhg.No.18.(18)J.8-118,119.Tr.by M.R.Yardi.(19)There are many examples in Hinduism: One of them is that the great God Siva himself has been relieved from the torments of poison by the power of the Name.(20)J.10-232,233.Tr.by Bhagawat.(21) J. 17-223.ibid.(22)R.D .Ranade:Santavacanamrta.N.Abhg.No.49.Tr.by Ranade in MM.(23)ibid.No.64.(24) ibid.No.36 .(25) ibid.No.37.(26) ibid.No.38.(2 7) T.Abtig.No.2021 .ibid.(28) ibid.No.695.

4 - 1 - 3 .

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(29) ibid.No.2467 .(30)Ramadasa:D.IV-3.Tr.by Ranade in MM.,p.399.(3 1) S . G . Tulple , op . ci t. , p . 50 .

4-1-4.(1)V .Raghavan:" Methods of Popular Religious Instruction in South India", in CHI.Vol.IV,p.506.(2) R■N .Nandi:Religious Institution and Cults in the Deccan, p. 76 .(3)M.Thiel-Horstmann:"Bhakti and Monasticism", in Hinduism Reconsidered,ed■by G .D .Sontheimer and H.Kulke.(4)L.Dumont:"World Renunciation in Indian Religions." In Contribution To Indian Sociology,4,p.58.(5)M.Thiel-Horstmann,op.cit.,p.130.(6)D.XI-10, partially guoted.from Ranade MM.,p.414.

4-1-5.(1)R.N.Nandi:Religious Institutions and Cults in the Deccan, p. 10.(2)A.L.Basham:The Wonder that was India,p.202.(3) Nandi ,op.cit. ,p. 1 .(4)A.L.Basham:The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism,p.108.(5)S.Pande:Birth of Bhakti in Indian Religions and Art, p. 198~199 .(6) Basham,op.cit.,p. 108.(7) J.18-492,tr.by M.R.Yardi.(8) J. 13-220,ibid.

4-2-1 .(1)H.C.Raychauduri:Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaisnava Sect,pp.62~118.(1 a)D.Chitre:Tukarama says Tuka.Introduction,p.xvii.

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(2) M . R . Lederle : Philosophical Trends in Modern M^arashtra, p. 15.(3)ibid., and B.A.Saletore in his article ” The Antiquity of Pandharpur",^ . 11 (4) ,p.773, gives approximate date aboutA.D.460 for existence of Vitthala worship.(4) B . Upadtiyaya : " Varkarl; the Foremost Vaisnava Sect of Maharashtra",IHQ 15,p.267.(5)G ■A.Deleury:Cult of Vithoba,p.3.(6) ibid. ,p.2.(7) ibid . , pp . 4~ 5 .(8)E . Zelliot:"Historical Introduction to Warkarl Movement", in Palkhi by D.B.Mokashi,tr.by P.C.Engblom,p.39.(9)Deleury:op.cit.,p.108.(10)S.G.Tulpule:Classical Marathi Literature,p.328.(11)Abhg. of Namadeva, No.77.Tr.by R.D.Ranade in MM.,p.195.(12)ibid.,No.95,p.197.(13)Quoted from N . N . Subramanian:Saint-Poets of Maharashtra, pp.17~18.(14)Publication Division:India--Society,Religion andLiterature,p.144.(15)G .A.Tagare;Intoduction of The Life of Ekanath by J.E.AbbottjPp.xvi-'Xvii.(16) ^.11-298.Tr.by R.D.Ranade in MM. ,p.250.(17) ibid. ,p.250.(18)N.H.Kulkarnee:"Medieval Maharashtra Muslim Saint-Poets", in Medieval Bhakti Movement in India,p.208.(19)D.Chitre:op.cit.,introduction,p.xxvi.(20)T .Dabre:The God Experience of Tukaram,p.25.(21) ibid.(22)Kulkarnee:op.cit.,p.211.(23)EB.Tr.by R.D.Ranade in MM.,p247.

4-2-2.(1) "je je bhete bhQta | te te manije bhagavanta | " (J . 10-1 18)

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Tr.by Bhagawat.(2)Isa U.6. Tr.by R.E.Hume, in his The Thirteen Principal Upanishads.(3)G.6-29. Tr.by S.Radhakrishnan.(4) ibid. .G.7-19.(5)BP.XI-2-45.Tr.by G.B.Tagare.(5a)cf.Visnu Sah3sranama,1.(6)Santa vacana amrta,Jfianadeva,No.59. ed.by R.D.Ranade.(7) ibid. ,No. 107.(8)Ekanathe Bhajane, No.255. ed.by V .Bhave.(9) R.D.Ranade p. 250.(10)Swami Vivekananda, C.W.Vol.2,p.294~296.(10a) ibid. ,p.295^296.(1 1) S . R . Talghatti : "Ramakr ishna and Vivekananda ”, in Th^kers of the Indian Renaissance.ed.by D.H.Bishop,p.172.(12)Swami Vivekananda,op.cit.,Vol.4,p.358.(13) ibid.(14)S.R.Talghatti,op.cit.,p.171.(15)A.7-280. Tr.by B.P.Bhahirat in M.(16) B . P. Bhahirat .-Devotional Poets and Mystics , p . 64 .(17) A.7-291 ,ibid.(18) cf . 3- 1 . Brief Discussion of Jfianesvara ' s Philosophy of cidvilasa. in the present thesis.(19) A.7-124,ibid.(20)S .V .dandekar:Dnyanadeo,p.29.(21)G.5-25. Tr.by S.Radhakrishnan.(22)Cf.Isa.U.,6. S.R.Talghatti:The Concept of Moral Obligation,p.11 I-114.(23)J.18-917.Tr.by Bhagawat.(24) J.3-96 . 91 . ibid.(26) J. 18-917,ibid.(27) J. 10-1 18,ibid.(28) R.D.Ranade :m. ,p.71 .(29)J.3-156,157. Tr.by Yarii.(30)G .B.Sardar:The Saint-Poets of Maharashtra.Tr.by K.Mehta,

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p.30.(31) ibid. .p.92(32)cf.V.K.Rajawade and V.L.Bhave.(33)Sardar,op.cit.,p.20.(34) ibid.(35) ibid. ,p.99.(36) Ranade:^. ,p.326.(37)N.H.Kulkarnee:"Social Implication of Religious Movements in Medieval Maharashtra." in Social contents of Indian Religious Reform Movements, ed.by S.P.Sen,p.180.(38)Ramadasa says," what is said out of experience; first practiced and then preachd." (D.11- 10-24)(3 9) Sardar,op.cit. ,p.21 .(40)N,H.Kulkarnee says," some scholars are of the opinion that the MahSnubhava are opposed to the Vedas, but it would appear that Cakradhara preached within the broad framework of varnasrama dharma. Only violence involved in the animal sacrifice in Vedic rituals is not acceptable to them....But the negativistic and overwhelming ritualism and its excessive emphasis on sannySsa for self-realization led to its unpopularity.op.cit.,p.202.(41)J .Lele:Introduction of Tradition and Modernity in Bhakti Movement, ed.by J.Lele,p.14.(42) ibid.(43)I.Ishwaran:"Bhakti Tradition and Modernaization", in J.Lele ed. op.cit.,p.75.(44)B.Nemade:"The Revolt of the Underprivileged", in J.Lele ed. op.cit.,p.116.(45) ibid. ,p. 75.(4 6)Nemade,op.cit.,p.122.(47)M.G.Ranade:Rise of the Maratha Power and other Essays, p.92.

4-3-1.(1)G.7-17. Tr.by S . Radhakrishnan ,

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1a)J.tr.by M.R.Yardi.1b)Cf.G.16-5.2) G.2-55.ibid.3)G.12-13.ibid.4)G.12-14.ibid.5)G. 12-15.ibid.6)G.12-16.ibid.7)G.12-17.ibid.8)G.12-18.ibid.9)G.12-19.ibid.10)G.12-20.ibid.1 1) .XI-2-52 . Tr.by Tagare.12)ibid.XI-2-54.13)ibid.XI-2-48.14)ibid.XI-2-49.15)ibid.XI-2-50.16)ibid.XI-2-51.17)ibid.XI-2-53.18)G. 14-22.op.cit.19)Swami Vivekananda:C.W.,Vol.3,p.100.20)G.6-47.op.cit.21)G.13-7-11.ibid.22)G,6-1 .ibid. .23)G.14-22.ibid.24)G. 14-23.ibid.25) G.14-24.ibid.26) G.14-25.ibid.27) P.Chaturvedi:Uttarl Bharat ki Sant-parampara,pp.3~ 9 .28)C.Vaudeville:"The Shaiva-Vaisnava Synthesis", in The

Sants, ed.by W.H.McLeod,p.215.29)Kablr-granthavall,tr.by C.Vaudeville.30)Haripatha, tr.by C.Vaudeville.31)Tukarama Gatha,No.50■Tr.by S.G.Tulple.32)ibid.,No.1787.33)ibid.,No.1079.

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(34) ibid. .No.2252.(35) ibid. ,No.2048.(36)"tici sant toce santa jyance het vitthall."(3 7) R.D.Ranade:m. ,p.42.(37a) Cf .J. 14-359.(38)R.D.Ranade.BGPGR.,p.189.(39)J.9-222~227.Tr.by R.D.Ranade in MM.(40) J.9-221 .ibid.(41)J.i;' 241-255. ibid.(42) J. 13-344^351 . ibid.(43) J. 13-3 56^3 67 . ibid.(44) J. 13-462^484. ibid.(45) J. 13-485~498 . ibid.(46) J. 13-502~510.ibid.(47) J. 13-514-523.ibid.(48) J. 13-594-598. ibid.(49) J. 13-369-398. ibid.(50)G.15-19.op.cit.(51)R.D.Ranade:BGPGR..p.237(52)J .Pasayadana, tr.by M.R.Yardi.

4-3-2■(1)D.XI-IO, partially quoted from R.D.Ranade,!^., p.414.(2)S.R.Talghatti:"Ramadas§ncl mahanta-sanklpana", Paramarsa, 7 (2) ,p.30.(3)D.XI-10-25,op.cit.(4)V.H .Date:Spiritual Treasure of Saint Ramadasa,p.8.(5)p.XI-6-12~15,op.cit.(6)V.H.Date,op.cit.p.11.(7)D.XIV-2-8,op.cit.(8) V.H. Date ,op.cit.p.8.(9)R.D.Ranade;MM.,p.422.

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