The poet who wrote Vaishnava Janato!

Vaishnav Jan To,

Tene Kahiye Je’

Peed Paraaye Jaane Re’

Par Dukkhe Upkaar Kare Toye’

Man Abhiman Na Anne Re…

As soon we hear the first word from this bhajan, the image we get is of Gandhi ji. The bhajan had become part of his everyday prayer. It was his favorite bhajan for he considered it to be song that depicts the essence of Hindu philosophy and ethics.

But do we know who wrote this beautiful song, which capsules all the values taught by Hindu philosophy in such simple words?

This song was written by a Gujarathi poet named Narasimha Maheta, around 500 years ago. In the 17th century with the Bhakti movement, his fame spread all over the country. His life, work, and miracles that happened with him, all became a center of the bhakti movement.

Maheta was born in the village Talaja near Junagadh in Gujrat. He was born into an orthodox, high society brahmin family known as ‘Nagara Brahmanas’. He has given his life accounts through his songs and he mentions many of the miracles performed by Shri Krishna which changed the course of his life.

He was a devotee of Lord Krishna and a follower of Bhakti sampradaya of Brindavan. He sang and danced like gopis in the streets. His bhakti was not understood by elders in the family and were ashamed of him. The girl with whom his marriage was fixed, refused to marry him.

But Manek Bai, an ardent devotee of Shri Krishna understood his love and dedication for God and got married to him. They were blessed with a son and daughter.

One day, upset over his relative’s comments, he went into the jungles and started calling for Krishna. He sang songs and danced, then there he attained enlightenment.

Narasimha Maheta was against untouchability. But his family disowned him for being associated with the people of lower caste.

Later, bhakti movement took a path of social reform and he wrote short poems called ‘Pada’ and around 750 of such pada have been collected and published now.

The main theme in all of this pada remains Sri Krishna, his ‘leela’, and his love for Radha. The poet also portrayed philosophy in his own words and style as Bhajans.

He says “you will never find him if you keep on discriminating among living beings. When you treat everyone as equal you will realize, ‘he’ was there with you all the time.”