Namdev

(1270–1350?) Poet-saint who is one of
the great figures in the Varkari Panth, a
religious community centered around
the worship of the Hindu god Vithoba,
at his temple in Pandharpur in the
modern state of Maharashtra.
According to tradition, Namdev was a
cotton-printer, considered a low-status
occupation, but the strength of
his devotion rendered his worldly
status irrelevant. He is said to have been
an associate of Jnaneshvar and
Chokamela, two other Varkari poetsaints. His songs have been preserved in
several different collections, including
the Adigranth (compiled by the Sikh
community) and the Panchvani (a collection of songs by five poets compiled
by the Dadupanth). For traditional
information about his life, see G. A.
Deleury, The Cult of Vithoba, 1960; and
Justin E. Abbott and Narhar R. Godbole
(trans.), Stories of Indian Saints, 1982.
For a more critical look at his Hindu
songs and the difficulties using them as
biographical sources, see Winand
Callewaert and Mukund Lath, The Hindi
Padavali of Namdev, 1989.