Priyadas

(early 18th c.) Author of the Bhaktirasabodhini (“Awakening the Delight in
Devotion”), a commentary on the
Bhaktamal of Nabhadas, completed in
\1712. In his text, Nabhadas had given
very brief (six line) biographies of over
two hundred contemporary bhakti
(devotional) figures. These original
biographies are notably free of marvelous and miraculous events, with their
major emphasis being the devotee’s
(bhakta) personal qualities, to serve as a
model for others. In his commentary,
Priyadas gives greatly expanded
accounts for each one of the devotees
mentioned by Nabhadas, and usually
describes events to which Nabhadas
makes no reference. At least in the case
of the poet-saint Ravidas, Nabhadas
clearly drew his material from the texts
written by the biographer Anantadas,
but in many other cases his sources
are not clear. The accounts by Priyadas
are larded with miracles and wonders,
and the prevalence of such events,
combined with his chronological distance from his subjects, makes him
a less reliable source for the lives of
these devotees.