Varkari
Encyclopedia
Varkari is a Vaishnava
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....

 religious movement (sampraday) within the bhakti
Bhakti
In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...

 spiritual tradition of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, geographically associated with the Indian states of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 and northern Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

. Varkaris worship Vithoba
Vithoba
Vithoba , also known as Vitthala and Panduranga , is a Hindu god, worshipped predominantly in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh. He is generally considered a manifestation of the Hindu god Vishnu or his Avatar Krishna...

 (also known as Vitthal), the presiding deity of Pandharpur
Pandharpur
Pandharpur is an important pilgrimage city on the Bhimā river in Solāpur district, Maharashtra, India. The Vithoba temple attracts about half a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā in the month of Ashadh ....

, regarded as a form of Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

, an Avatar
Avatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....

(incarnation) of Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....

. Teachers associated with the movement include Dnyaneshwar
Dnyaneshwar
Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...

, Namdev
Namdev
Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...

, Tukaram
Tukaram
Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...

, Chokhamela
Chokhamela
Chokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste considered "untouchable" in India in that era. He was born at Mehuna raja, a village in Deulgaon Raja Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedhe in Maharashtra. He wrote many Abhangas...

 and Eknath
Eknath
Eknath was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets...

, all of whom are accorded the title of Sant
Sant
Sant is an Indian term derived from a Sanskrit verb that means both "to be good" and "to be real". From the fifteenth century the term has often referred to those who sing the name of God and worship Him, particularly the bhakti poets of Marathi...

.

The Varkari movement includes the worship of Krishna in the form of Vithoba and a duty-based approach towards life emphasising, moral behavior and strict avoidance of alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

, strict vegetarian diet and fasting on Ekadashi day (twice a month), self-restraint (brahmacharya
Brahmacharya
Brahmacharya is one of the four stages of life in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smrti and later Classical Sanskrit texts in Hinduism. It refers to an educational period of 14–20 years which starts before the age of puberty. During this time the traditional vedic sciences are...

) during student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 life, equality and humanity for all rejecting discrimination based on caste or wealth, the reading of holy books by all castes, the reading of the Haripath
Haripath
The Haripath is a collection of 28 abhangas composed by the thirteenth-century Marathi saint, Dnyaneshwar. It is recited by Varkaris daily.-Bibliography:...

every day and regular bhajan
Bhajan
A Bhajan is any type of Indian devotional song. It has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas. It is normally lyrical, expressing love for the Divine...

and kirtan
Kirtan
Kirtan or Kirtana is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" performed in India's devotional traditions. A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed...

.

Influence

The Varkari tradition affected the life of the common people of Maharashtra for six hundred years (from 13th century to 18th century). Varkaris looked upon God as the Ultimate Truth and ascertained grades of values in social life but accepted ultimate equality among men. Varkaris prostrated in front of each other because "everybody is Brahma" and stressed individual sacrifice, forgiveness, simplicity, overcoming passions, peaceful co-existence, compassion, non-violence, love and humility in social life.

The Varkari poets put God-realisation (haripath) in simple terms in small booklets of verse. Each saint, in his own rustic but sweet style, has extolled japa
Japa
Japa is a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of a divine power. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken purely within the recitor's mind...

, chanting the Lord's name. Sant Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram and other Marathi
Marathi people
The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

 Bhakti saints of the Varkari sect tried to mould the attitude of the common people, which included low castes and women, to have a kind of detachment and the courage of one's convictions in the face of evil forces.

Pilgrimage to Pandhapur

Every year Varkari walk hundreds of miles to the holy town of Pandharpur
Pandharpur
Pandharpur is an important pilgrimage city on the Bhimā river in Solāpur district, Maharashtra, India. The Vithoba temple attracts about half a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā in the month of Ashadh ....

, gathering there on ekadashi
Ekadashi
Ekadashi , also spelled as Ekadasi, is the eleventh lunar day of the shukla or krishna paksha of every lunar month in the Hindu calendar . In Hinduism and Jainism it is considered a spiritually beneficial day...

(the 11th day) of the Hindu lunar calendar
Lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...

 month of Aashaadha
Aashaadha
Aashaadha is a month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Aashaadh is the fourth month of the year, beginning on 22 June and ending on 22 July. The month is known as Aadi in Tamil...

 (which falls sometime in July). Varkaris making the pilgrimage to Pandharpur carry the palkhis (palanquins) of the sants from their places of 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....

(enlightenment or "spiritual birth"). According to historians Vitthal devotees were holding pilgrimages prior to the 13th century. Today about 40 palkhis, with their devotees, come from all over Maharashtra to Pandharpur. The current tradition of carrying the paduka (sandals) of the sants in a palkhi was started by the youngest son of Sant Tukaram, Narayan Maharaj, in 1685. Further changes were brought in by Haibatraobuwa and descendants of Sant Tukaram in the 1820s. Another pilgrimage is celebrated on the ekadashi of the month of Kartik
Kartik
Kartik may refer to:* Kartika , a month in the Indian national calendar and Bengali calendar* Kartik * Karttikeya, the brother of Ganesha in the Hindu mythology...

 which falls sometime in November.

Notable Varkaris

  • Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...

  • Muktabai
  • Namdev
    Namdev
    Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...

  • Sena Nhavi
    Sena Nhavi
    A Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord VittalA Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord VittalA Marathi Vaishnava Saint who was a devotee of Lord Vittal:As a barber, I shall give a dressing...

  • Chokhamela
    Chokhamela
    Chokhamela was a saint in Maharashtra, India in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste considered "untouchable" in India in that era. He was born at Mehuna raja, a village in Deulgaon Raja Taluka of Buldhana district. He lived at Mangalvedhe in Maharashtra. He wrote many Abhangas...

  • Tukaram
    Tukaram
    Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...

  • Eknath
    Eknath
    Eknath was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets...

  • Narahari Sonar
  • Sawata Mali
  • Kanhopatra
    Kanhopatra
    Kanhopatra or Kanhupatra was a 15th century Marathi saint-poetess, venerated by the Varkari sect of Hinduism.Little is known about Kanhopatra. According to most traditional accounts, Kanhopatra was a courtesan and dancing-girl...


Literature

  • Dnyaneshwari
    Dnyaneshwari
    The Dnyaneshwari is the commentary on Bhagavad Gita written by Marathi saint and poet Dnyaneshwar during the 13th century at age 16...

     - by Saint Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...

    1 READ
  • Tukaram Gatha - by Saint Tukaram
    Tukaram
    Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.Sant Tukaram was born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan with first...

  • Sopandevi - by Saint Sopandeo
  • Namdev-Gatha by Saint Namdev
    Namdev
    Sant Namdeo or Bhagat Namdeo was born on October 29, 1270 in the state of Maharashtra village of Narasi-Bamani, in Hingoli district . His father, a calico printer/tailor, was named Damshet and his mother's name was Gonabai...

  • Eknathi-Bhagwat - by Saint Eknath
    Eknath
    Eknath was a prominent Marathi scholar and religious poet. He is called a "sant" in the Marathi tradition as are most other religious poets...

     - This book has 18,798 ovis (verses) in 31 adhyaya (sections)2
  • Amrutanubhav - by Saint Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyaneshwar
    Dnyāneshwar , also known as Jñanadeva , was born into a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtrian Hindu saint , poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka ,...

    3
  • Haripath - 27 verses highlighting importance of Naam to live peaceful life. by, Sant Dnyaneshwar

External links





The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK