(1628–1700) Bahina Bai Poet and saint associated with the Varkari Panth, a religious order dedicated to the worship of the Hindu deity Vithoba at his temple in Pandharpur, Maharashtra.
Bahina Bai defied conventional wisdom not just because she was a female religious icon, but also because she was a brahmin student of the shudra poet-saint Tukaram, a connection that flipped societal status norms.
- This is because a brahmin is a person of high social status, while a shudra is a member of Hindu society's lowest and least prominent caste.
- Tukaram accepted Bahina as his pupil in a dream, according to legend, since Bahina's husband—a educated brahmin who was acutely aware of his brahmin status—had prohibited her from meeting with him.
- Bahina also published an autobiography, which was strongly inspired by her religious views, in addition to her devotional poetry.
- Bahina is noteworthy as one of the few female bhakti (devotional) personalities who was able to combine the demands of her marriage with her devotion to God, but this was not without difficulty and heartbreak.
Bahina Bai, translated by Justin E. Abbott, 1985; and Anne Feldhaus, “Bahina Bai: Wife and Saint,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 50, 1982.
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