Bahina Bai

(1628–1700) Poet and saint in the
Varkari Panth, a religious community
centered around the worship of the
Hindu god Vithoba at his temple at
Pandharpur in the modern state of
Maharashtra. Bahina Bai ran counter to
contemporary assumptions not only
because she was a female religious figure, but also because she was a brahmin
disciple of the shudra poet-saint
Tukaram, an association that inverted
the usual patterns of social status. This is
because a brahmin is someone of high
social standing while a shudra is of the
lowest and least influential class in
Hindu society. According to tradition,
Tukaram initiated Bahina as his disciple
in a dream because Bahina’s husband—
a learned brahmin who was highly conscious of brahmin status—had
forbidden her to meet with him. Aside
from her devotional poetry, Bahina also
wrote an autobiography, whose content
was heavily influenced by her religious
beliefs. Bahina is notable as one of the
only women bhakti (devotional) figures
who was able to reconcile the demands
of her marriage with her commitment to
God, although these issues were not
resolved without considerable trouble
and heartache. For further information
see Justin E. Abbott (trans.), Bahina Bai,
1985; and Anne Feldhaus, “Bahina Bai:
Wife and Saint,” in Journal of the American
Academy of Religion, Vol. 50, 1982.