Dadu

Dadu (born 1544, Ahmadabad, India—died c. 1603, Naraina) was a Hindu-Muslim saint who inspired the formation of a sect called Dadu Panth.

A cotton carder by profession, Dadu became a religious wanderer and preacher, settling for periods of time at Sembhar, at Amber, and finally at Naraina, near Jaipur (Rajasthan state), which remains the centre of his following. Dadu rejected the authority of the Vedas (earliest Hindu scriptures), caste distinctions, and all divisive, external forms of worship, such as visits to temples and pilgrimages. Instead, he concentrated on japa (repetition of the name of God) and themes such as the soul as the bride of God. His followers abstain from alcohol and are vegetarians; there is also a strong ascetic component of the Dadu Panth.

Dadu’s poetic aphorisms and devotional hymns, the vehicle of his teachings, were collected in a 5,000-verse anthology, Bani (“Poetic Utterances”). They also appear along with selections from other poet-saints (sants) Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, and Haridas in a somewhat fluid verse anthology called Pancvani (“Five [Groups of] Utterances”), which constitutes scriptures for the Dadu Panth.