(1270–1350?) At his temple at Pandharpur in the
current state of Maharashtra, poet-saint who is one of the major characters in
the Varkari Panth, a religious group focused upon the worship of the Hindu
deity Vithoba.
Namdev was a cotton-printer, a low-class vocation, according
to legend, but the power of his dedication made his worldly rank
inconsequential.
Jnaneshvar and Chokamela, two additional Varkari poet
saints, are reported to have been his associates.
Several collections of his songs have been preserved,
including the Adigranth (collected by the Sikh community) and the Panchvani (a
col lection of songs by five poets compiled by the Dadupanth).
G. A. Deleury, The Cult of Vithoba, 1960; Justin E. Abbott
and Narhar R. Godbole (trans. ), Stories of Indian Saints, 1982; and G. A. Deleury,
The Cult of Vithoba, 1960. See Winand Callewaert and Mukund Lath, The Hindi
Padavali of Namdev, 1989, for a more critical examination of his Hindu songs
and the challenges in utilizing them as biographical sources.
