English Abhangvani

The state of Maharashtra in India produced many great sants (saints) from 13th century. The earliest of them was Sant Jnaneshwar who was followed by others like Sant Tukaram, Sant Namdev, Sant Goroba Kumbhar, Sant Janabai, etc. These sants propounded Bhakti Marg, the path of devotion to a god with some form, as the easiest one for attaining liberation / enlightenment / self-realisation. They created copious spiritual literature in Marathi language, a major portion of it being in the nature of Abhangas, short poetic constructs consisting of 4-6 two-line verses. These abhangas cover a wide spectrum of spiritual philosophy and also in good part, love and praise for their beloved god. Many of these abhangas are sung and recorded by well known singers to an extremely enchanting musical composition. This small book is an attempt by the author to take a few selected abhangas to non-Marathi spiritual seekers. In Section 1 of the book, the author has rendered the original Marathi abhangas in English verse form with each abhang followed by a brief commentary summarizing the meaning of the abhang and also mentioning the name of the sant who composed the abhang. In Section 2, the corresponding original Marathi abhangas are given in the same order for an easy reference for those who may be interested.