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Mahipati Dasaru
महिपति दास
The hagiographer of the saints of Maharashtra
Years
1715 – 1790
Known as
Mahipati — the author of the Bhaktavijaya
Birthplace
Taharabad, Maharashtra
Field
Saints & Sages
“The lives of the saints are the scriptures of the common people — let them be written and read.”
— Mahipati Dasaru
The Story
Born in 1715 in Taharabad, Mahipati was a pious householder who lived quietly in the service of the Lord and the traditions of the saints. In his middle years he conceived the great work of his life: to gather the stories of the saints of Maharashtra — from Dnyaneshwar and Namadeva to Tukaram — and tell them for the people.
His Bhaktavijaya, 'the victories of the devotees', told the lives of the saints in verse, and his Bhaktalilamrit told their deeds and miracles. The books became instant classics, read and sung in homes and temples across Maharashtra, and they remain the standard accounts of the lives of the saints of the land.
He died in 1790, and his name is honoured as the recorder of the devotional tradition — the man who gave the people of Maharashtra their living gallery of saints, in whom the memory of the great devotees of the land was preserved for all time.
Core Ideas
The Bhaktavijaya
His classic lives of the saints of Maharashtra.
The Bhaktalilamrit
His companion work on the deeds of the saints.
The Hagiographer
He preserved the memory of the devotional tradition.
The People's Writer
His books carried the saints to every home.
The Devotee
A householder saint who served the Lord quietly.
Why it matters today
Mahipati Dasaru is honoured as the recorder of the saints of Maharashtra — the writer whose Bhaktavijaya remains the standard account of the lives of the great devotees of the land. His books are still read in every Marathi home, and his name stands with the saints whose memory he preserved.