Sant Enath: A Brahmin Saint and a Sufis Disciple who Embraced Dalits

by
Rupa Abdi

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 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. 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
Hampi to Pandharpur, its original home. It had been taken from
Pandharpur by Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar in 1951. 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, owees
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 Gyaneshwars 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 Eknaths 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.
Dont wait for anything else.
Good and bad come in their own way.
They are the proof of past deeds..
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
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 dressed like a faqir. At one time, it is
believed, Eknath took his gurus place to lead the Muslim army when the
fort was attacked, as his guru was in deep meditation at this 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-shshaykh
among Sufis.
The Sufi 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. Eknaths 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 havent 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!!
(Note: References for any information cited in the article may be obtained on request
from the writer.)