SAMARTH RAMDAS

March 3, 2022

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s remarks that Samarth Ramdas was the ‘guru’ of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has stirred controversy in the state.

About:

Samarth Ramdas (1608 – 1681 AD), also known as Sant (saint) Ramdas or Ramdas Swami or simply Ramdas was an Indian Marathi Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master.
He was a devotee of the Hindu deities Rama and Hanuman.
Ramdas initiated the Samarth sect to revive spirituality in the society.
Unlike the Warkari saints, Ramdas is not deemed a pacifist and his writings include strong expressions encouraging nationalism means to counter the aggressive invaders.
Dāsbodh, loosely meaning "advice to the disciple" in Marathi, is a 17th-century bhakti (devotion) and jnana (insight) spiritual text. It was orally narrated by the saint Samarth Ramdas to his disciple, Kalyan Swami.

Links with Shivaji and Sambhaji

The first Maratha ruler, Chatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle I was a contemporary of Ramdas.
Historians have proposed that the two met each other around 1672 when Shivaji provided grant for the math (Hindu Monastery) of Ramdas at Chaphal.
After Shivaji's death, Ramdas wrote a letter to his elder son Sambhaji Bhonsle I, advising him on the future course of action after Shivaji's death.

Source : Indian Express