The Marathi language is derived mainly from two sources, Sanskrit and Turanian or Dravidian with good many Persian and Arabic words due to centuries of Muslim rule, but Sanskrit element predominates nine tenth of Marathi, which is immediate descendant of Maharashtri (Prakrit?) that was spoken about the beginning of Christian era.
The only extant work in Maharashtri is the 'Shalivahana or Satavahana Saptashti' composed by king Shalivahana. He composed with the help of Pandits, 400,000 gathas or verses in the Maharashtri or Prakrit tongue. There is no literary work extant between the time of Shalivahana and that of Mukundraj who lived about 1200 AD. The only important literature in Marathi is its poetry, and not much prose literature worthy of the name. The oldest Maratha poet is Mukundraj, probably lived in the 12th century A.D. and was patronized by Yadava king Jaitrapal. Three of Mukundraj's works are extant - 'mthe vivek sindhu or ocean of discrimination; param amrita or great nectar and mulasthambha or ptimary pillar, a title of Shiva.' Then come the poets Namdev (a tailor by caste) and Dnyanadev. Dnyanadev's work is 'Dnyaneshwari', a commentary on the Bhagwad Gita or Divine Hymn. It is written in the 'OVI' metre containing some 10,000 verses. As an explanatory work for the Prakrit reader, it is not of much use as it is so full of words and phrases that even good Marathi scholars who also are well versed in Sanskrit find it more difficult to comprehension than original Sanskrit!. At the end of the song, the poet says while king Ramadev of the famous Yadava dynasty was ruling Maharashtra. A vernacular version of the Bhagwad Gita was prepared by Dnyanadev in 1212. Dnyanadev had two brothers Nivritti and Sopandev and one sister, Muktabai, all of who have been deified by the Marathas, the three brothers being regarded as incarnations of the Hindu Trinity and the sister as an incarnation of the goddess of learning (Saraswati? - md). For three centuries after Dnyanadev, during the Muslim occupation, no writer of any note appeared. Towards the end of the 16th century, in the old centre of glory called 'PAITHAN', there lived an exceedingly remarkable man, remarkable both as a poet and reformer. His name is Eknath, son of Suryaji, a Deshasta Brahman. Many stories are told of the redicule and persecution which Eknath underwent at the hands of the Brahmans of Paithan and Banares (Varanasi). On several occasions, Eknath was put out of caste and once his poems were publicly sunk in the river Godavari. But he cared for none of these things. He took up his parable against the caste system and other social disabilities which have no sanction in the Shastras (Hindu Scriptures?) and boldly carried his principles into practice. On one occasion, one of his audience, a pious and intelligent Mahar (Mhaar) asked Eknath, while he was urging his usual views, whether he would be an exemplar of the principle that, before God a Brahman and a Mhaar are equal, by dining in his house. The poet had the courage of his opinions and next day he went to the house of the Mhaar who had questioned him and there, publicly partook of food prepared by the Mhaar's wife!! Eknath wrote chiefly in the Ovi metre and his most popular work is his metrical translation of the Bhagwad Gita, generally called 'Eknathi Bhagwat'. He died in 1608. My comments: I came accross a website a few days ago, that had the above information. Surprising, Eknath's name should come up here. I also happened to attend one Taize prayer in a Toronto Church and the hymns sung and the prayers indeed were wonderful, par excellence. Soft light, soft music soft spoken prayers and time to reflect, it was great. This originated in Taiz, France. Come to think of it: "Eknath was put out of caste and once his poems were publicly sunk in the river Godavari." Who do we blame for this atrocity???????? MD. Message: 4 Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 23:34:13 -0400 From: Venantius J Pinto <venantius.pi...@gmail.com> To: goanet@lists.goanet.org Subject: Re: [Goanet] Khristapurana, Brahman and Person: Essays by Richard De Smet Message-ID: <aanlktik2q1bhoxj1pstdapoidu-h6anay1o9xfozj...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 As usual in my opinion: a reasonable tangent. Nothing we receive to include the Self "can diminish the infinite stores of love and wisdom." >From Eknath Easwaran's Purna (Full) in 1000 names of Visnhu. By St.Teresa Nada te turbe, Nada te espante Todo se pasa. Dios no se mua La pacienza Todo lo alcanza. Quien a Dios tiene Nada le falta. Solo Dios basta. Let nothing upset you; Let nothing frighten you. Everything is changing; God alone is changeless. Patience attains the goal. Who has God lacks nothing, God alone fills all his needs. Btw, it is amazing to see and be a part of the youth at Taiz? sing a version of the above (in tandem with various Alleluia's, the Magnificat/s, B?nissez le Seigneur, Bless the Lord, etc. (Cluny chants<http://www.taize.fr/en_article10308.html>), close to the Abbaye de Cluny <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluny_Abbey> (in eng.), France. The Taiz? version <http://www.taize.fr/spip.php?page=chant&song=483&lang=en> . Na-da te tur-be, nada te_es.pan-te; quien a Dios tie-ne, na-da le fal-ta. Na-da te tur-be, na-da te_es-pan-te s?-lo Dios bas-ta. Nothing can trouble, nothing can frigh-ten those who seek God shall ne-ver go want-ing, God a-lone fills us. Music: J. Berthler Ateliers et Presses de Taiz?, F-71250, Taiz? Communit? (also on my blog venatiusaneum <http://venantiusjpinto.blogspot.com/> with the music notation) ++++++++++++ venantius j pinto