Samarth Ramdas Charitra
Samarth Ramdas Charitra
An eminent Marathi Saint and religious poet who was versatile in matters
both worldly as well as spiritual
Birth: 1608
(Shake 1530 Chaitra Shuddha Navami)
Mantra (Shri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram) thirteen crore times at the
banks of the Godavari at Tafali near Nashik. Lord Shri Ram was himself
Narayans Guru.
His main objective was to spread and establish the Hindu religion throughout
India.
In his own words,
Dharma Sansthapana Jagjivana| Bharatkhandi karne aisi|
(Establish the religion is the aim of my life| To make India a nation |)
He visited all the pilgrimage and holy places in the entire country. While
visiting the country, he observed the ethos of the nation. In extremely
difficult times like calamities and autocratic rule of foreign forces, he literally
waved a magic wand to turn the State back from the path of destruction. He
strove hard to establish and widen the scope of Maharashtrian religion. It
was as a tribute to Ramdas's extraordinary patience and determination in
rehabilitating the Hindu religion in India that people named him Samarth (allpowerful) Ramdas, a name which he richly deserved.
Maratha tituka melvava| Maharashtra Dharma vadhvava|
(The Marathi people should so unite | And spread the Marathi religion |)
He created a Ramdas sect of his devotees who followed his philosophy of
regular reading of the holy text, politics, alertness and perseverance and
worked towards the spreading the religion through preaching. He established
his Math in several places to achieve his objective of spreading the religion all
over the country.
The lifeless people of Maharashtra sprung to life with the powerful incantation
of Samartha Ramdass chant, Jay Jay Raghuvir Samartha. (Hail be Lord
Ram). This singular chant engulfed the entire State. The chant even spread
to northern States, at the banks of the Ganga, Yamuna and Kaveri. By
developing virtuous disciples and establishing Math, he developed impartial
leadership qualities in the people and reached a considerable milestone
towards his goal in establishing a sound nation. By creating an unparalleled
balance between religious power and political power, he filled the minds of
Samarth Ramdass verses and literature are so profound that they are a topic
for an exclusive research.
While Samarth Ramdas was awakening the minds of people through all his
literature, his chief objective was always Hindavi Swarajya (Self rule of
India)! The foreign rulers of the country at that time were attempting to
destroy the prevalent Hindu religion and culture from the country. To
counteract that, Samarth Ramdas believed that the only way to stem the rot
was to awaken strong feelings of patriotism, religiosity (of ones own religion)
and pride in ones mother tongue in each youth of the country. He set out on
this mission and created turmoil in the country. Samarth Ramdas was the
chief architect of strengthening the foundations of Chhatrapati Shivaji
Maharajs Hindavi Swarajya in the country and establishing an ideal nation in
Maharashtra.
Samarth Ramdas resided most of his later life around Satara, Chafal and
Sajjangarh. The Lord Ram temples and eleven important Maruti temples
established by him are in this region.
He wrote the Dasbodh while sitting in a cave in a place called ShivtharGhal
near Raigad. There are historical records of Shivaji Maharaj and Samarth
Ramdas having met in the vicinity of Chafal.
Samarth Ramdas was and still is an exemplary guide in spirituality,
philosophy, devotion to Lord Ram and Shri Hanuman. He took Samadhi on
Sajjangarh on 1681.
Literature of Samarth Ramdas
Shrimath GranthaRaj Dasbodh: This work consists of 7,751 verses called
ovi. It provides sagacious advice on both spiritual and diverse practical topics
Manache Shlok: A small book of meditations which consists of 205
memorable four-line verses and is an advice and preaching to the human
mind, to behave in an ethical way and devote oneself in the love of God.
Maruti Stotra: This is a Marathi adulatory poem for Lord Hanuman which is
very popular in Maharashtra.
Ref: http://www.bharatadesam.com/people/samartha_ramdas.php
Death: 1681
(Shake 1603, Magh Navami, Shaniwar)