Samarth Ramdas

Samarth Ramdas (c. 1608 - c. 1681), also known as Sant (saint) Ramdas or Ramdas Swami or simply Ramdas was an Indian Marathi Hindu saint, philosopher, poet, writer and spiritual master. He was a devotee of the Hindu deities Rama and Hanuman.

Quotes

• To prepare for this consummation, Ramdas preached in the living present: 'Places of pilgrimage have been destroyed, homes of the Brahmans have been desecrated, the whole earth is agitated; Dharma is gone. Therefore, Marathas should be mobilized; Maharashtra Dharma should be propagated. The people should be rallied and filled with a singleness of purpose; sparing no effort, we should crash upon the Mlencchas.
• Ramdas, to be fair to him, also recommended moderation:'Extremes should be always avoided, one should act according to situations. The wise should never be fanatical.. Times change, rigid rules do not always help; in politics theoretical consistency is misleading.’
  • quoted in Sharma, "THE FOUNDING OF MARATHA FREEDOM" [1] also in Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857. chapter V.

• Ramdas was one of the greatest saints of the world. He was the inspirer of Shivaji. Like the Sanskrit Gita and the Tamil Kurul, the Dasabodh is one of the greatest classics of world literature. Ramdas was a contemporary of Sant Tukaram. As makers of Maharastra and remakers of Hindus tan, Ramdas and Shivaji will always go together as one ideological complex in the historical scholarship of future generations.
  • Benoy Kumar Sarkar: as quoted in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents and time about India and her culture