Mahipati

Mahipati

Mahipati (1715 - 1790) [1][2] was a Marathi language hagiographer who wrote biographies of prominent Hindu sants who had lived between the 13th and the 17th centuries in Maharashtra, India.[3]

He worked for some time as a scribe for the village of Taharabad in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra and also for a Mughal landlord. Although he played down his abilities, his hagiographies of the Varkari sants, based at least in part on earlier works by Nabhadas and Uddhava Ciddhan, are still considered to be the most authoritative.[3][lower-alpha 1]

An English translation of Bhaktavijaya, originally written by Mahipati around 1762,[3] was published under the provisions of the will of Justin E. Abbott in 1933.[4]

Early Life

Mahipati's father Dadopant is said to have been in the service of the Mughals, but where, when and in what capacity is not known. At the age of forty he retired from service, and came to live in Taharabad, his native place in the Ahmednagar District. He was a regular Varkari pilgrim of Pandharpur and the hereditary village accountant of Taharabad. This state of things continued until he was sixty-four years old, but being without an issue he felt naturally anxious lest the regular visits to Pandharpur would be discontinued after his own death. He, therefore, prayed to God to grant him a son, and a son was born to him in 1715 A.D. ( Shaka era 1637 ). This son he named Mahipati, who was destined to become the biographer of saints. Mahipati was handsome and of a sharp intellect. In his very boyhood he was devoted to God and he went as a pilgrim to Pandharpur at the age of sixteen. It seems Mahipati was well educated. His handwriting was good. That he had a good knowledge of Sanskrit is proved by his translations into Marathi. Besides Marathi, his mother tongue, he knew Hindi. At the age of sixteen, Mahipati's father died and the burden of supporting the family fell on him at that early age. Aside from his household responsibilities, he had to work as village accountant, an office hereditary in the family. Taharabad was then part of a jaghir of a Muhammadan to whose court Mahipati had to go in his official capacity. Well substantiated is the story that once after bathing Mahipati was performing the worship of his household gods when a messenger from the Muhammadan came to summon him to court on business, Mahipati sent word in return that he would be at his service after he was through his daily devotion. Nevertheless there was another and a very peremptory call to appear in court at once. Reluctantly he went, but on his return, he took his pen from behind his ear and laying it before the God he vowed never to use it again in any official capacity. This vow was adhered to rigidly by his descendants and is to continue until the seventh generation.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The hagiography by Nabhadas may itself be based on a still earlier one written by Anantadas.[3]

Citations

  1. ↑ Lutgendorf, Philip (2007). Hanuman's tale the messages of a divine monkey ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0195309225.
  2. ↑ Lochtefeld, James G. (2002). The illustrated encyclopedia of Hinduism (1st. ed.). New York: Rosen. p. 409. ISBN 9780823931798.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Novetzke, Christian Lee (1969). Religion and Public Memory: A Cultural History of Saint Namdev in India. New York Chichester: Columbia University Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-0231-14184-0.
  4. ↑ Abbott, Justin E. (1933). Stories of Indian Saints: An English Translation of Mahipati's BhaktiVijaya , Volume 1. Motilal Banarasidass Publishers. pp. Chapter 9, 34–45. ISBN 8120804694.


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