EKNATH: A Brahmin Saint and a Sufi’s Disciple who Embraced Dalits

by

Rupa Abdi Ph.d

For all those who equate organised religion to dharma and who, due to their
narrow mind set, are compelled to box pluralistic saints like Kabir and Shirdi
Sai baba into Hindu/Muslim categories, for them, Sant Eknath is an enigma,
an embarrassment. His Guru – Swami Janardan, is claimed, by some
scholars, to be a Sufi (Novetzke p.142, Rigopaulosp.157).Many of his
bharuds (devotional songs) are in Hindustani and can often be mistaken to
be written by a Sufi. He spoke of finding parallels in Hinduism and Islam,
his followers belonged to different castes and creeds and according to one
legend he even led Muslim armies on one occasion (Rigopoulos p.160,
Sadangi p.53). Little wonder then that recent Marathi writers, have tried to
recast him as a saviour of Hinduism from Islam although available literature
proves something altogether different!!

The story of sant Eknath is a story of a scholarly Brahmin whose

compassion and wisdom allowed him to rise above caste distinction and
even engage Muslims in his spiritual dialogues.

Sant Eknath (1533-99 C.E.) was born to a Brahmin family in the holy city of
Paithan, known as the Benaras of Maharashtra, which stood on the banks of
Godavari. He was the grandson of Sant Bhanudas- a devout Warkari sant
who is credited with returning the idol of Vithobha from Hampito to
Pandharpur, its original home. It had been taken from Pandharpur by
Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar in 1951 (Novetzke p.142).Spiritually inclined
from a very early age, Sant Eknath was allowed by his guru, Swami
Janardhan to lead a life of a house holder. Sant Eknath carried forward the
tradition of social reform of Sant Gyaneshwar and Sant Namdev by rejecting
all distinctions of caste and creed and the relevance of ritual and rites. For
this he won many opponents among the high caste Hindus.

He composed numerous religious songs in Marathi called abhangs, owes

and bharuds. He wrote a commentary in Marathi on the Bhagvad Purana
known as Eknath Bhagwat and also began writing Rukimini Swayamvara
which, after his death, was later completed by one of his disciples. His
works brought the highest of religious truths and moral guidance to the
common people. He was a renowned kirtankaar giving birth to a unique
style of Marathi kirtan singing called Eknath kirtan. He collected all the
versions of Gyaneshwar’s Gyaneshwari and produced a critical edition of it.

However his unusual contribution to Marathi Bhakti literature is his empathy

with the dalits. Out of the three hundred bharuds(drama poems) that he has
written, about fifty are from the perspective of a Dalit. In forty seven of
which the protagonist is a Mahar and in one a Mang is the central
character. Both these castes are considered among the ‘lowest’ in
Maharshtra and elsewhere in India. These characters in Eknath’s drama
poems, preach morality, the righteous path, the importance of a Guru and
how the Bhakti marg liberates us from the cycle of death and rebirth. He
mocks at the so-called learned Brahmins and fake gurus in the following
Bharud:

“They say ‘we have become saints’

They put on garlands and sandal paste.
Taking a lamp in their hands
They cry udo,udo….. !

They do kirtan for the sake of their stomachs

They teach the ‘meaning of all’ to the people.
They cheat their ignorant devotees.
They do not know the meaning of kirtan…….
 Do the one kind of Bhakti.
Don’t wait for anything else.
Good and bad come in their own way.
They are the proof of past deeds…..”(Sadangi p.58-59)

Like his predecessors of the Warkari Bhakti movement, Eknath, in his

following Bharud preaches that all humans can experience nearness to God
irrespective of caste and creed:

God baked pots with Gora

drove cattle with Chokha
cut grass with Savata Mali
wove garments with Kabir
dyed hide with Ramdas
sold meat with butcher Sajana
melted gold with Narhari
carried cow dung with Jana Bai
and even became the Mahar messenger of Damaji (Sadangi p.61)

There are numerous stories of Eknath being ostracised and punished by the
Brahmins for his proximity and social interactions with the so called
‘untouchables’.

Eknath is also credited with contributing to the religio-cultural pluralism of the

Deccan in the sixteenth century. He lived during the rule of Ahmednagar
Sultanate. Apart from being an ancient capital, the sixteenth century, Paithan
was a major trading centre and Eknath had the opportunity to interact with
people of all castes as well as Indian Muslims and Arabs.
His guru, Janardhan Swami, was a saint as well as in charge of the
Daulatabad fort. Janardahan Swami was the disciple of Chand Bodale, also
known as Chandrabhat, who was a Vaishnav and yet a follower of the Kadri
or Qadarriya Sufi path and would dress like a faqir (Rigopaulos p.157). At
one time, it is believed, Eknath took his guru’s place to lead the Muslim
army when the fort was attacked, as his guru was in deep meditation at
that time!! According to Rigopoulos (p.160) Eknath disguised himself as his
guru and in the process acquired all his strength and defeated the attacking
army. This phenomenon of the disciple ( murid) completely absorbing himself
into the personality of his master ( shaykh) is known as fana-fi-sh’shaykh
among Sufis.

The Sufi/Islamic influence on Eknath is further indicated by the number of

Persian and Arabic words found in his Bharuds. While recently many right
wing ideologist have tried to cast Sant Eknath as a saviour of Hinduism
from the ‘hated’ Muslim tide, numerous scholars, both Hindu and Muslim,
concur that medieval India was an era of tolerance, participation of Hindu
subjects in the Islamic government and cultural interaction and influence
among the two communities. Eknath’s bharud titled, Hindu-Turk Samvad
sums up the situation aptly:

Eknath: The goal is one, the ways of worship are different.

Listen to the dialogue between these two!

The Turk calls the Hindu ‘Kafir’!

The Hindu answers: ‘I will be polluted, get away!’

A quarrel broke out between the two,

A great controversy began.

Muslim: O Brahman! Listen to what I have to say:

Your scripture is a mystery to everyone,

 God has hands and feet, you say.

This is really impossible!

Hindu: Listen you great fool of a Turk!

See God in all living things.

You haven’t grasped this point

And so you have become a nihilist…….

At that moment that saluted each other.

With great respect, they embraced.

Both became content, happy.

Quiet, calm.

‘You and I quarrelled to open up the knowledge of high truth,

In order to enlighten the very ignorant.

In place of karma-awakening!!’ (Rigopoulos p.143)

हज़रत मौला मौला

सब दनि
ु या पालन वाला

सब घटमो सांई विराजे

करत हए बोल-बाला

गरीब नवाजे मैं गरीब तोरा

तेरे चरन कु रतवाला

अपना साती समज के लेना

सलील वोही अल्ला

 जीन रूप से है जगत पसारा

वोही सल्लाल अल्ला

एका जनार्दनी निजबद अल्ला

आसल वोही चिर पर अल्ला

REFERENCES

 Pemmaraju G. The Mystic Circle: Sufis, Sants& the Songs of the Deccan
http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2014/06/the-mystic-circle-sufis-sants-
songs-of-the-deccan.html

 Ahmend S A. 2011. A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From the Twelfth to

the Mid-Eighteenth Century. Dorling Kindersley. New Delhi

 Prasoon S. 2009.Indian Saints and Sages.Hindology Books. Pustaka Mahal, Delhi.

 Novetzke C L. 2008. Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev
in India. Columbia University Press. New York

 Sadangi H C. 2008.Emancipation of Dalits and Freedom Struggle.Isha Books. Delhi

 Rigopoulos A.1998. Dattatreya: The Immortal Guru, Yogin, and Avatara: A Study of
the Transformative and Inclusive Character of a Multi-Faceted Hindu Deity. State
University of New York Press. New York.