Saint Samarth Ramdas

Ramdas (c. 1608 – c. 1682) pronunciation , also Samarth Ramdas or Ramdas Swami, was an Indian Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, mystic and spiritual master. He was a devotee of the Hindu deities Rama and Hanuman. He was born as Narayan Thosar at Jamb, a village in present-day Jalna District, Maharashtra, on the occasion of Rama Navami in 1608. He was born to Suryajipant and Ranubai Thosar, and brought up in a Marathi Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family. He had an elder brother named Gangadhar. His father, Suryajipant, was a devotee of Surya, a Vedic deity. Suryajipant died in either 1615 or 1616. Ramdas turned into an introvert after the demise of his father and would often be engrossed in thoughts about the divine. Historical information about his early life is scarce. According to legend, Ramdas—then known as Narayan—fled his wedding ceremony at the age of twelve. He did so upon hearing a pandit (Hindu priest) chant 'Saawadhaana!' (Beware!) during the wedding ritual. Later, he walked hundreds of miles along the banks of the river Godavari to Panchavati, a Hindu pilgrimage town near Nashik. He then moved to Taakli, near Nashik, at the confluence of the Godavari and Nandini rivers. At Taakli, he spent the next twelve years as an ascetic in complete devotion to the deity Rama. During this period, he adhered to a rigorous daily routine and devoted most of his time to meditation, worship and exercise. He is claimed to have attained enlightenment at the age of 24. He adopted the name Ramdas around this time. He also installed and consecrated an idol of the deity Hanuman at Taakli. He departed Taakli and embarked on a pilgrimage across the Indian subcontinent. He travelled for twelve years and made observations on contemporary social life. He noted these observations in two of his literary works Asmani Sultania and Parachakraniroopan. These works provide rare insights into the then prevailing social conditions in the Indian subcontinent.