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Dadu Dayal | |
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| Personal life | |
| Born | 1544 (1544) |
| Died | 1603 (aged 58–59) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Founder of | Dadu Panth |
| Philosophy | Bhakti |
| Sect | Sant Mat |
| Religious career | |
| Guru | Bābā Būḍhāu |
Dadu Dayal (Devanagari: दादू दयाल,Saint Dādūdayāl, 1544–1603) was apoet-saint religious reformer who spoke against formalism andpriestcraft, and was active throughoutRajasthan.
"Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one".[2]
There are three main hagiographies on Dādū Dayāl. TheDādūjanmalīlā was written soon after Dādū Dayāl's death by his disciple Jangopāl, andBhaktmāl was written by Rāghavdās in 1660. There exists a text entitledSant gun sāgar purportedly written by Mādhavdās during Dādū Dayāl's life, however this is inauthentic and the text in reality likely dates to the early 19th century.[3]
Dādū Dayāl was born into thePiñjārā/Dhuniyā caste, but later sources attempted to portray him as aBrahmin. According to Jangopāl, he was born inAhmedabad. However, other sources do not attest to this, nor did Dādū Dayāl have any impact on the city during his lifetime. Dādū Dayāl claimed to have received visions from his mystical guru, Bābā Būḍhāu, at the ages of 11 and 18.[3]
In 1573, his son, Garībdās, was born in the town ofSambhar,Rajasthan. His later children include Maskīndās, Havā, and Bāī. According to Jangopāl, his children were born without sexual intercourse with his wife. However, according to Rāghavdās, they were merely his first four disciples.[3]
In Sambhar, Dādū Dayāl claimed to hold debates with orthodox religious figures, and preached a "middle path" between various sects. By 1579, Dādū Dayāl and his four children/disciples moved toAmber. According to the Dādu panthī tradition, Dādū Dayāl visited the court ofAkbar on the invitation ofBhagavantdās, Kachvāhā ruler of Amber. He then became increasingly nomadic. He moved toKaraṛālā, Naraina where he received land.[3]
In 1603, Dādū Dayāl died. His body was left in the wilderness, instead of being cremated or buried as perHindu orMuslim tradition.[3]
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Dadu Dayal later moved toNaraina, nearJaipur,Rajasthan, where he gained a group of followers, forming a sect that became known as theDadupanth.[4][1]
Dadupanthis are one of the 7 martialakharas ofVaishnavitesampradaya of Hindus.[5] Vaishnavism has following four major sects:[6]
Followers of Vaishnavism are also calledBairagi or Vairagi. Among the Bairagi, those who became part of the militaryakharas were organised in the 7akharas, of which the founding dates are unclear. Each of theakharas accepted members from all 4 sects of Vaishnavism. Bairagi militaryakharas generally did not follow the prohibition against eating meat or taking narcotics.[6]
Dadu's compositions inBraj language were recorded by his disciple Rajjab and are known as theDadu Anubhav Vani, a compilation of 5,000 verses. Another disciple,Janagopal, wrote the earliest biography of Dadu.[4][7] Dadu alludes to spontaneous (sahaja) bless in his songs. Much of the imagery used is similar to that used byKabir, and to that used by earlierSahajiyaBuddhists andNathyogis. Dadu believed that devotion to God should transcend religious or sectarian affiliation, and that devotees should become non-sectarian or"Nipakh".[8] He said the following about that:[9]
So kāfir jo bolai kāf;
dil apna nahim rakhe sāf...
The infidel is one who tells a lie;
One whose conscience isn't
clear...
Dadu had 100 disciples that attainedsamadhi. He instructed additional 52 disciples to set up ashrams, 'Thambas' around the region to spread the Lord's word.
Dadu spent the latter years of his life inNaraiana, a small distance away from the town of Dudu, near the city of Jaipur.[10]
Fivethambas are considered sacred by the followers: Naraiana, Bhairanaji, Sambhar, Amer, and Karadala (Kalyanpura). Followers at these thambas later set up other places of worship.
Armed martial akharas were first likely formed by the Dadupanthi GuruJait Sahib (1693–1734 CE) when he recruited armed Nagasadhus. In 1733, Dadupanthis were tax paying farmers inJaipur State, and martial Naga Sadhus were employed to enforce the payment of taxes. In 1793, Dadupanthis and Jaipur State had an agreement under which Dadhupanthis provided 5000 armed soldier sadhus to defend the Jaipur State. During the1857 rebellion, Dadupanthis acted as mercenaries who helped theBritish Raj.
Dadupanth has continued in Rajasthan to the present-day and has been a major source of early manuscripts containing songs by Dadu and otherNorth Indian saints.[4]
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