Saints index
The voices the tradition has held
A locator. Sant by sant, in the order the tradition placed them. Each entry leads to the chapter where the voice is heard at length.
The Foundation
The four sibling-saints of Apegaon and Alandi, thirteenth century.
Sant Nivruttinath
निवृत्तिनाथc. 1273 to 1297Brahmin (excommunicated)Eldest of the four; received the Nāth transmission from Gahininath; guru to Dnyaneshwar.
Sant Dnyaneshwar
ज्ञानेश्वरc. 1275 to 1296Brahmin (excommunicated)Composer of the Dnyaneshwari, Amritanubhav, and Haripath. The foundation.
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Sant Sopandev
सोपानदेवc. 1277 to 1296Brahmin (excommunicated)Third sibling; took samadhi at Saswad. The quiet voice in the four.
Sant Muktabai
मुक्ताबाईc. 1279 to 1297Brahmin (excommunicated)Youngest sibling; the fierce yogini whose tāṭi ughaḍā abhanga opened the door.
Namdev's circle
The household at Pandharpur where bhakti met daily labour.
The sants of the margins
Lower-caste, occupational, and excluded voices the canon absorbed.
Sant Chokhamela
चोखामेळाfourteenth centuryMaharStood outside the temple wall. His samadhi sits there still.
Soyrabai
सोयराबाईfourteenth centuryMaharChokhamela's wife. Her abhangas on impurity refused the framework that named her impure.
Karmamela
कर्ममेळाfourteenth centuryMaharChokhamela's son. The sharpest protest voice in the early canon.
Sant Sena Nhavi
सेना न्हावीthirteenth to fourteenth centuryNhavi (barber)One shabad attributed to a Sena in the Adi Granth; the Maharashtrian identification is traditional.
Sant Savata Mali
सावता माळीthirteenth to fourteenth centuryMali (gardener)Pandharpur is in his garden. He saw no need to leave it.
Sant Gora Kumbhar
गोरा कुंभारthirteenth to fourteenth centuryKumbhar (potter)Tested the assembled saints with his clay-rod. The pots sounded different.
Sant Narahari Sonar
नरहरी सोनारthirteenth to fourteenth centurySonar (goldsmith)A Shaivite who found Vitthal's measure in his metalwork; the saguna-nirguna unity enacted.
The householder scholar
Eknath, the bridge across the centuries when the canon could have fragmented.
The pinnacle
Tukaram, where the path's logic terminates.
The closure of the lineage
Bahinabai. The last great voice of the foundational period.