Dadu Dayal

"Dadu" means brother, and "Dayal" means "the compassionate one". The word Dādū is also a Rajasthani term to refer to a grandfather. Dadu's name may have been a distorted version of Dāūd or a diminutive of Allāhdād, names of Muslim origin.

There are three main hagiographies on Dādū Dayāl. The Dādūjanmalīlā was written soon after Dādū Dayāl's death by his disciple Jangopāl, and Bhaktmāl was written by Rāghavdās in 1660. There exists a text entitled Sant gun sāgar purportedly written by Mādhavdās during Dādū Dayāl's life, however this is inauthentic and the text in reality likely dates to the early 19th century.

Dādū Dayāl was born into the Piñjārā/Dhuniyā caste, but later sources attempted to portray him as a Brahmin. According to Jangopāl, he was born in Ahmedabad. However, other sources do not attest to this, nor did Dādū Dayāl have any impact on the city during his lifetime. Dādū Dayāl claimed to have received visions from his mystical guru, Bābā Būḍhāu, at the ages of 11 and 18.

In 1573, his son, Garībdās, was born in the town of Sambhar, Rajasthan. His later children include Maskīndās, Havā, and Bāī. According to Jangopāl, his children were born without sexual intercourse with his wife. However, according to Rāghavdās, they were merely his first four disciples.

In Sambhar, Dādū Dayāl claimed to hold debates with orthodox religious figures, and preached a "middle path" between various sects. By 1579, Dādū Dayāl and his four children/disciples moved to Amber. According to the Dādu panthī tradition, Dādū Dayāl visited the court of Akbar on the invitation of Bhagavantdās, Kachvāhā ruler of Amber. He then became increasingly nomadic. He moved to Karaṛālā, Naraina where he received land.

In 1603, Dādū Dayāl died. His body was left in the wilderness, instead of being cremated or buried as per Hindu or Muslim tradition.

Dadu Dayal later moved to Naraina, near Jaipur, Rajasthan, where he gained a group of followers, forming a sect that became known as the Dadupanth.

Dadupanthis are one of the 7 martial akharas of Vaishnavite sampradaya of Hindus. Vaishnavism has following four major sects:

• Sri, founded by Ramananda. Dadupanthis are one of those 7 martial akharas of Vaishnavite in the sect of Ramanada.
• Brahma. founded by Madhava.
• Ridra, founded by Vishnusuvamin
• Sanakadi, founded by Nimbarka.

Followers of Vaishnavism are also called Bairagi or Vairagi. Among the Bairagi, those who became part of the military akharas were organised in the 7 akharas, of which the founding dates are unclear. Each of the akharas accepted members from all 4 sects of Vaishnavism. Bairagi military akharas generally did not follow the prohibition against eating meat or taking narcotics. The Dadupanthis had a tradition that was known as Khalsa, being inspired by the Sikh tradition.

Dadu Anubhav Vani

Dādū's compositions are preserved in collections associated with the Dādū Panth and are commonly known as the ''Dādū Vāṇī'' or ''Dādū Anubhav Vāṇī''. The collection is traditionally associated with his disciples, particularly Rajjab, who is credited with recording and preserving Dādū's compositions. The ''Dādū Anubhav Vāṇī'' is generally described as containing around 5,000 verses, including devotional songs and couplets.

The compositions address themes including devotion, remembrance of the divine name, the nature and importance of the true guru, spiritual realization, and the rejection of religious and sectarian distinctions. Dādū's poetry is associated with the ''nirguṇ bhakti'' tradition, which emphasizes devotion to the formless or attributeless divine. His teachings also emphasize sahaja, a state of spiritual realization or spontaneous bliss.

Dādū's compositions are written primarily in forms of early modern North Indian vernacular poetry, including Braj. His verses employ direct language and everyday imagery to express ideas concerning devotion, spiritual realization, the guru, and the relationship between the individual and the divine. His poetry forms part of the wider ''sant'' literary tradition of North India.

A recurring concern in Dādū's poetry is the distinction between external religious identity and genuine spiritual realization. In one verse, Dādū states:

So kāfir jo bolai kāf;

dil apna nahim rakhe sāf...

Translation:

The infidel is one who tells a lie;

one whose conscience isn't clear...

The verse occurs in the context of Dādū's teaching that devotion should not be restricted by religious or sectarian identity. His followers subsequently developed this principle through the idea of ''nipakh'', or non-sectarian religious practice.

The ''Dādū Vāṇī'' became an important part of the literary heritage of the Dādū Panth. Dādūpanthī manuscript traditions also preserved compositions attributed to other North Indian ''sants'', and collections such as the ''Pañc-Vāṇī'' brought together poetry associated with Dādū, Kabīr, Nāmdev, Raidās and other devotional poets. These manuscript traditions contributed to the transmission of early modern North Indian devotional poetry.

Dadupanthi Thambas

Dadu had 100 disciples that attained samadhi. He instructed additional 52 disciples to set up ashrams, 'Thambas' around the region to spread the Lord's word.

Dadu spent the latter years of his life in Naraiana, a small distance away from the town of Dudu, near the city of Jaipur.

Five thambas are considered sacred by the followers: Naraiana, Bhairanaji, Sambhar, Amer, and Karadala (Kalyanpura). Followers at these thambas later set up other places of worship.

Dadupanthi Martial Akharas

Armed martial akharas were first likely formed by the Dadupanthi Guru Jait Sahib (1693-1734 CE) when he recruited armed Naga sadhus. In 1733, Dadupanthis were tax paying farmers in Jaipur State, and martial Naga Sadhus were employed to enforce the payment of taxes. In 1793, Dadupanthis and Jaipur State had an agreement under which Dadhupanthis provided 5000 armed soldier sadhus to defend the Jaipur State. During the 1857 rebellion, Dadupanthis acted as mercenaries who helped the British Raj.

Prominent Dadupanthis

Present status

Dadupanth has continued in Rajasthan to the present-day and has been a major source of early manuscripts containing songs by Dadu and other North Indian saints.

Kabīr occupies an important place in the religious and literary traditions associated with Dādū Dayāl and the Dādū Panth. Dādū's relationship with Kabīr is represented not only through similarities between their poetry, but also through Dādū Panthī hagiographies, manuscript traditions, and verses attributed directly to Dādū.

Kabīr in the Dādū Panthī tradition

The earliest biographical traditions surrounding Dādū establish a close relationship between Dādū and the spiritual legacy of Kabīr. The Dādū Janma Līlā, attributed to Dādū's disciple Jangopāl and composed around the early seventeenth century, presents Dādū in connection with Kabīr's spiritual knowledge.

In discussing Dādū's encounter with the Mughal emperor Akbar, the text presents Dādū as possessing the knowledge associated with Kabīr. Modern scholarship has described this portrayal as presenting Dādū as “Kabīr embodied”, possessing Kabīr's jñāna (spiritual knowledge).

Kabīr was also one of the most important figures preserved in the literary tradition of the Dādū Panth. Dādū Panthī manuscript collections contain poetry attributed to Kabīr, alongside compositions associated with Dādū and other North Indian sants.

References to Kabīr in Dādū's verses

The connection is also expressed in verses attributed to Dādū himself. One such verse states

जिन मोकूं निज नाम दिया, सोई सतगुरु हमार।
दादू दूसरा कोई नहीं, कबीर सिरजनहार॥

Transliteration:

Jin mokūṃ nij nām diyā, soī satguru hamār;
Dādū dūsrā koī nahīṃ, Kabīr sirjanhār.

The verse identifies the giver of the nij nām as Dādū's satguru and explicitly names Kabīr as sirjanhār ("creator"). Other verses attributed to Dādū similarly invoke Kabīr by name and associate him with spiritual knowledge and devotion.

These verses are significant because the connection with Kabīr is expressed within Dādū's own attributed poetic corpus, rather than solely in later biographical accounts.

Traditional accounts of a direct encounter

Some hagiographical traditions concerning Dādū describe a direct encounter between Dādū and Kabīr during Dādū's youth. Accounts differ concerning details such as Dādū's age at the time of the encounter. In traditions that accept this account, Kabīr is described as the spiritual teacher who imparted knowledge to Dādū.

Such accounts belong to the hagiographical tradition surrounding the saint and should be distinguished from independently verifiable historical evidence about Dādū's life. Nevertheless, the repeated association of Dādū with Kabīr in Dādū Panthī biographies, manuscripts, and verses forms an important part of the tradition's understanding of Dādū's spiritual lineage.

Taken together, these sources show that Kabīr was not merely a figure whose poetic style influenced Dādū. He occupied a central position in the religious memory and literary tradition of the Dādū Panth, while Dādū's own attributed verses explicitly invoke and praise Kabīr.