(1554–1603) Sant poet-saint and founder of the Dadupanth, a religious institution.
The sants were a group of poet-saints from central and northern India who shared a number of common traits, including a focus on individualized, interior religion leading to a personal experience of the divine, a dislike for external ritual, particularly image worship, faith in the power of the divine Name, and a willingness to ignore traditional caste (social order) distinctions.
Dadu was born into a family of cottoncarders, a low-status vocation, according to legend.
He was also said to have been born a Muslim, yet his poetry suggests that he was untouched by the religion.
Many of the aforementioned sant themes are prominent in his songs.
His poetry also emphasize nonviolence (ahimsa) and vegetarianism as a practical implementation of that ideal.
Another major subject is the religious importance of labour, since he is claimed to have carded cotton till his death, despite his celebrity.
Some of Dadu's poems include lists and classifications, as though he's trying to organize his thoughts for teaching purposes.
This indicates that he envisioned a well-established discipleship network.
According to mythology, Dadu met with the Moghul emperor Akbar, who was so taken aback by Dadu's charm that he stopped hurting sentient creatures.
The story is most likely made up, since there are similar legends about many of the sant poets, all of which depict the well-known subject of the worldly monarch submitting to the spiritual adept.
See Winand Callewaert (trans. ), The Hindi Biography of Dadu Dayal, 1988, for more information on traditional sources.
Moghul dynasty is another name for the Moghuls.
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