Nirgun Bhakti Sagar : Devotional Hindi Literature

The present work thus gives a representative selection of the most popular Pads and Sakhis around ad 1600 in north-west India. There are several useful ways to consult this work.

This book is a tribute to India’s literary and religious heritage. For the last 25 years Dr. Winand M. Callewaert visited scores of libraries, temples and private collections to study and catalogue manuscripts on Bhakti literature. As the years passed by his admiration increased for the great medieval Bhaktas who meditated and sang. The result of their devotion is preserved in thousands of manuscripts. In order to make that treasure easily accessible to scholars and devotees these two volumes were produced with the help of computer facilities for printing and sorting words in alphabetical order. The basis for selection is the famous Rajasthani Pancavani collection of the works of five great Bhaktas: Dadu, Kabir, Namdev, Raidas and Hardas. In order to make a comparison possible, the authors have also included the Bijak of Kabir, the ‘Hindi’ songs of Gorakhnath and Sundardas, and a selection of Siddha literature. Permission given to reproduce a few edited texts now not easily available is grate­fully acknowledged.