Sen

(15th c.) Poet and saint of the Varkari
Panth, a religious community centered
around the worship of the Hindu god
Vithoba. According to tradition, Sen was
a barber—a very low-caste occupation—at the court of the king of Bidar.
Sen renounced this occupation to wander and sing Vithoba’s praises. Little is
known about him, but he is mentioned
as a model of devotion in one of the
hymns by the northern Indian poetsaint Ravidas, which indicates that he
was well known outside Maharashtra.
For traditional hagiography, see Justin
Abbott and Narhar R. Godbole, Stories of
Indian Saints, 1988.