संत

Dnyāneshwar (1275–1296)

At Nevāsā on the Pravarā, Dnyāneshwar explained the Bhagavad Gītā in Marathi. The Dnyāneshwarī, completed in 1290, runs to about nine thousand verses, each an ovī; he was in his teens. Its closing prayer, the Pasāydān, asks nothing for himself and everything for the world.

• पसायदानPasaydan

Nāmdev (traditionally c. 1270–1350)

A tailor by trade and a devotee of Viṭṭhala of Paṇḍharpūr, Nāmdev is credited with about 2,500 abhaṅgs, of which scholars think perhaps 600 to 700 are his. The Guru Granth Sahib includes 61 songs in his name, though scholars debate whether they are by this Nāmdev. Vārkarī kīrtan traces its beginnings to him. His dates are disputed, and so is the friendship with Dnyāneshwar that tradition tells of: Dnyāneshwar never mentions him.

• घालीन लोटांगणGhalin Lotangan

Eknāth (c. 1533–1600)

Born at Paiṭhaṇ on the Godāvarī, Eknāth retold the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and the Rāmāyaṇa in Marathi, as the Eknāthī Bhāgavat and the Bhāvārtha Rāmāyaṇ, and introduced the bhāruḍ, a form of devotional song, writing nearly three hundred. He also said he had restored the Dnyāneshwarī to its original text, three centuries after it was written.

Tukārām (1608 or 1598 – 1650)

Born at Dehu, near Pune, Tukārām left a Gāthā that tradition puts at some 4,500 abhaṅgs, each ending with his name, तुका म्हणे. With Dnyāneshwar, Nāmdev and Eknāth he is credited with carrying the Vārkarī tradition into the wider bhakti literature of India, and his abhaṅgs are sung in kīrtan and on the pilgrimage to Paṇḍharpūr. His birth year is given as either 1608 or 1598; most historians accept that he died in 1650.

Rāmdās (1608–1682)

Born Nārāyaṇ Ṭhosar at Jāmb, Rāmdās spent twelve years in austerity at Ṭākaḷī on the Godāvarī and twelve more travelling across India. Back in Maharashtra he founded monasteries and Māruti temples, wrote the Dāsbodh and the Manāche Ślok, and composed several of the state’s best-loved āratīs. His teaching joined devotion to Rāma with practical ethics. He spent his last years at Sajjangaḍ, near Sātārā.

• मनाचे श्लोकManache Shlok
• मारुती स्तोत्रBhimrupi Maharudra
• सुखकर्ताSukhkarta Dukhharta

And many more

The tradition is far larger than five names. Among the others are Muktābāī, Dnyāneshwar’s sister; Janābāī, who served in the household of Nāmdev’s family; Chokhāmeḷā, from a Mahār family; and Bahiṇābāī, a disciple of Tukārām. Their abhaṅgs belong to the same living repertoire.