Dadu Dayal
Encyclopedia
Dadu Dayal was a sant
from Gujarat, India
. "Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one".
He was reputedly found by an affluent business man floating on the river Sabarmati. He later moved to Amber (city), near Jaipur
Rajasthan
, where he gathered around himself a group of followers, forming a group that became known as the Dadu-panth.
This organization has continued in Rajasthan to the present-day and has been a major source of early manuscripts containing songs by Dadu and other North India
n saints. Dadu's compositions were recorded by his disciple Rajjab and are known as the Dadu Anubhav Vani, a compilation of 5,000 verses. Another disciple, Janagopal, wrote the earliest biography of Dadu.
Dadu alludes to spontaneous (sahaja
) bliss in his songs. Much of the imagery used is similar to that used by Kabir, and to that used by earlier Sahajiya Buddhists and Nath
yogi
s.
Dadu had 100 disciples that attained samadhi
. He instructed an additional 52 disciples to set up ashrams, 'Thambas' around the region to spread the Lord's word. Dadu ji spent the latter years of his life in Narayana, a small distance away from the town of Dudu, near Jaipur city. Five thambas are considered sacred by the followers; Narayana, Bhairanaji, Sambhar, Amer, and Karadala (Kalyanpura). Followers at these thambas later set up other places of worship.
Sant Mat
Sant Mat was a loosely associated group of teachers that became prominent in the northern part of the Indian sub-continent from about the 13th century...
from Gujarat, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. "Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one".
He was reputedly found by an affluent business man floating on the river Sabarmati. He later moved to Amber (city), near Jaipur
Jaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, where he gathered around himself a group of followers, forming a group that became known as the Dadu-panth.
This organization has continued in Rajasthan to the present-day and has been a major source of early manuscripts containing songs by Dadu and other North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
n saints. Dadu's compositions were recorded by his disciple Rajjab and are known as the Dadu Anubhav Vani, a compilation of 5,000 verses. Another disciple, Janagopal, wrote the earliest biography of Dadu.
Dadu alludes to spontaneous (sahaja
Sahaja
Sahaja is a term of some importance in Indian spirituality, particularly in circles influenced by the Tantric Movement...
) bliss in his songs. Much of the imagery used is similar to that used by Kabir, and to that used by earlier Sahajiya Buddhists and Nath
Nath
The Sanskrit word nāthá or नाथ, is the proper name of a Hindu initiatory tradition and the word itself literally means "lord, protector, refuge"...
yogi
Yogi
A Yogi is a practitioner of Yoga. The word is also used to refer to ascetic practitioners of meditation in a number of South Asian Religions including Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.-Etymology:...
s.
Dadu had 100 disciples that attained samadhi
Samadhi
Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
. He instructed an additional 52 disciples to set up ashrams, 'Thambas' around the region to spread the Lord's word. Dadu ji spent the latter years of his life in Narayana, a small distance away from the town of Dudu, near Jaipur city. Five thambas are considered sacred by the followers; Narayana, Bhairanaji, Sambhar, Amer, and Karadala (Kalyanpura). Followers at these thambas later set up other places of worship.