Sant Bahinabai: The Varkari Woman Poet-Saint

Sant Bahinabai, also written Bahina Bai, Bahinabai of Deogaon or Bahini, is a woman saint and poet of the Varkari tradition of Maharashtra, remembered as a devoted disciple of Sant Tukaram in the seventeenth century. She composed Marathi abhangs, including a notable autobiographical account in verse, and she is honoured as one of the most important women voices in Marathi devotional literature. She should not be confused with the twentieth-century Marathi poet Bahinabai Chaudhari of Khandesh. Her story belongs to the wider current of devotion described in the Bhakti movement.

Key Takeaways

• Sant Bahinabai is a seventeenth-century woman saint-poet of the Varkari tradition of Maharashtra.
• She is honoured as a disciple of Sant Tukaram, the great Varkari poet of Dehu.
• Her autobiographical abhangs describe her hardships, her longing for a guru and her devotion to Vitthal.
• A well-known verse attributed to her compares the Varkari tradition to a temple raised by successive saints.
• She is a different person from the modern Marathi poet Bahinabai Chaudhari of Khandesh.
• Many details of her life come from her own verses and from tradition, and some episodes are best read as devotional narrative.

The sections below explain the life, works, teachings and continuing legacy in more detail.

Quick Facts

Who Was Sant Bahinabai?

Sant Bahinabai was a woman saint and poet of the Varkari tradition who lived in the seventeenth century and became a disciple of Sant Tukaram. She is honoured as one of the leading women voices of the Marathi devotional tradition, alongside earlier figures such as Muktabai and Janabai. Her verses speak of struggle, search and surrender.

Unlike many early saints about whom only legends survive, Bahinabai left her own account of her life in verse. This autobiographical writing makes her unusually well known among the saints of her age. The tradition values her as a witness who speaks plainly about the pain of social restriction and about the joy of finding a spiritual teacher.

Which Bahinabai Is This?

The Bahinabai of this article is the Varkari saint of the seventeenth century, not to be confused with Bahinabai Chaudhari, the celebrated Marathi poet of the Khandesh region who lived in the twentieth century. Both women are honoured in Marathi culture, but they belong to different eras and different traditions of expression. The poet of Khandesh wrote folk-style verses in local speech.

The Varkari Bahinabai, by contrast, composed devotional abhangs in the Varkari mould and is counted among the saints. The note is helpful because the name is common in Maharashtra and the two women are sometimes mixed up. Clear distinction matters when searching for sources, since each has her own body of verse and her own place in literary history.

What Is Known About Her Early Life?

Tradition places her early life in Deogaon, a village in the region of present-day Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, and records that she was married at a young age. In her own verses she speaks of her family, her marriage and the difficulties of her situation. The details are told largely in her own words and carry the weight of personal testimony.

Because the information comes from her verses and from the later memory of the Varkari community, scholars treat certain episodes with caution. The general outline, however, is consistent. She was a girl from a pious household who grew up with a love for hearing the praise of God and who found in devotion a refuge from a life of limited freedom.

Why Did She Leave Her Home Region?

According to her own account and the tradition around it, Bahinabai left her home region with her family during a period of hardship and settled in the south, in the area of Kolhapur. The move was linked in the story with a time of difficulty, and it brought her into contact with new religious communities. The journey opened a new stage in her life.

Wandering and displacement are common themes in the stories of the saints, and in her case they led toward discovery. At her new home she came to hear the devotional recitations of a local teacher, which stirred her interest in the path of the Varkari saints. The narrative portrays a change of place as the doorway to a change of heart.

How Did She Come to Know Tukaram?

Bahinabai came to know of Sant Tukaram through the kirtans and teachings she heard in the Kolhapur region, and she felt a deep desire to meet the great poet of Dehu. In her verses she describes the longing to see him and the sense of blessing she felt in his presence. Tradition says she travelled to Dehu, near Pune, to receive his guidance.

The relationship between disciple and teacher is one of the key episodes of her life story. She speaks of him with great reverence and treats him as the guide who revealed to her the meaning of the Lord’s name. Her devotion to Tukaram became the centre of her spiritual identity, and she refers to him as her guru in the verses.

What Is Sant Tukaram's Place in Her Story?

Sant Tukaram, the poet-saint of Dehu in the seventeenth century, is the central teacher in Bahinabai’s story and one of the most beloved figures of the Varkari tradition. He is known for several thousand abhangs in plain Marathi that speak of devotion, honesty and the pain of worldly life. His message was open to everyone and drew many disciples.

In Bahinabai’s account the saint appears as a compassionate teacher who accepted her and gave her the Lord’s name. Her loyalty to him is expressed in verses that affirm his presence in her inner life. Through her, the memory of Tukaram was carried further, and her writings are among the sources that Varkaris turn to when thinking about his influence.

What Is the Story of the Cow and Calf?

A well-known story in the tradition describes how Bahinabai’s household travelled with a cow and a calf, which became part of the account of her journeys to Dehu. In the narrative the animals share in the peace of the devotional company and are treated as companions on the road. The story is told as tradition and not as a documented record.

The detail is cherished for its homely warmth and for the way it shows the saints as people who lived in the daily setting of farm and village. It also reflects the high regard in Indian culture for the cow as a gentle and nurturing presence. As with many devotional stories, it presents a simple image whose meaning is trust and companionship on the path.

What Challenges Did She Face in Her Marriage?

According to the accounts, Bahinabai faced opposition from her husband because of her devotion and her contact with the saints, and the household went through strain. Her verses speak of anguish and of the effort to continue her spiritual practice in an unfriendly environment. The story is part of the testimony she left behind.

Tradition goes on to say that the difficulty was eased over time through the grace of the Lord and through the steadiness of her faith. The account is told with sympathy and is not meant to cast blame, but to show patience under pressure. Many listeners find in it a mirror of the situation of women whose religious life had to be pursued within narrow limits, and her endurance is held in respect.

What Are the Autobiographical Abhangs of Bahinabai?

Bahinabai’s autobiographical abhangs are a group of verses in which she narrates her own life, including her birth, her travels, her hardships and her devotion. In Marathi this kind of self-narration is called atmanivedan, meaning an offering of the self. They are regarded as an important early example of life-writing by a woman in an Indian language.

The verses are plain and direct, and they move between memory and prayer. They also include reflections on how earlier lives and divine grace shaped her path, according to the beliefs she held. Scholars and singers alike treasure them because they allow the reader to hear a woman of the seventeenth century speak about her own experience in her own voice.

What Is the Temple Metaphor in Her Verse?

A famous verse attributed to Bahinabai describes the Varkari tradition as a temple built over generations by successive saints, with Jnaneshwar as the foundation, Namdev as the builder, Eknath as a pillar and Tukaram as the crowning finial. The image is widely quoted in Maharashtra as a compact picture of the lineage of the movement. It is valued for its clarity and grace.

The metaphor highlights how the Varkari path was formed by a succession of voices, each adding something to the whole. It places Tukaram at the summit, which reflects her own loyalty. The verse is often cited in discussions of the history of Marathi devotion because it supplies a memorable summary of the tradition as seen by an insider.

What Does She Teach About Devotion?

Bahinabai teaches that devotion to the Lord’s name can lift a person above circumstance, and that the guidance of a true teacher is essential on the path. Her verses stress faith, patience, humility and inner contentment. They also stress that outer hardship need not prevent inner freedom.

The message fits the wider voice of the Bhakti saints, who held that sincere love for the divine matters more than status, gender or learning. Because Bahinabai speaks from the position of a woman who faced real restriction, her words carry a special authority for those who read them today. Her teaching is remembered as honest, gentle and firm at once.

Why Is She Important Among Women Saints?

Bahinabai is important among women saints because she continued the line of Marathi women poets that includes Muktabai, Janabai, Soyarabai and Kanhopatra, and because she left a first-person account of her life. Her presence shows that the Varkari path made room for women as teachers and as poets. This place was not a minor one.

The recognition she has received in Marathi tradition is a sign of the respect for women’s spiritual voices within the Bhakti movement. Her autobiographical writing also helps modern readers understand how women experienced devotion and domestic life in her age. For that reason she is studied not only as a saint but also as a significant figure in the literary and social history of Maharashtra.

Where Did Bahinabai Spend Her Later Life?

Tradition says that Bahinabai spent her later years at Shiur, a village in western Maharashtra, where she is remembered and where a memorial honours her. She continued her devotion and her composition after Tukaram’s passing, and she kept his teaching alive through her own verses. Pilgrims who visit the site recall her as a gentle and steadfast saint.

The later life of the saint is understood largely through tradition, and the details are modest. What stands out is the continuity of her faith, which carried through the changes in her circumstances. The village and its memorial remind visitors that spiritual heritage is often preserved in small places, in the memory of local people and in the songs sung each year.

How Is Bahinabai Remembered by Varkaris?

Varkaris remember Bahinabai through the singing of her abhangs, the retelling of her story and the invocation of her name among the saints at the Pandharpur pilgrimage. The tradition counts her as a member of the sant mandali, the company of saints whose spirit is believed to accompany the vari. Her verse about the temple of the tradition is often recited.

The remembrance is communal and devotional. Singers draw on her verses at kirtans, and women in particular look to her as a model of perseverance. In this way, a woman who once struggled to find her place has become part of the shared memory of an entire religious community, which is a notable outcome of a life of faith.

Sant Bahinabai Today

Sant Bahinabai today is honoured as a woman poet-saint whose autobiographical abhangs offer a rare, direct view into the religious life of a seventeenth-century Marathi woman. Her verses are sung, studied and quoted, and her story is told as an example of courage and trust. Students of Marathi literature recognise her as a distinctive voice.

For readers of Indian religion, she shows how the Bhakti movement gave space to women who sought spiritual freedom within the world they lived in. The accounts of her life blend her own testimony with tradition, and respectful readers treat the legendary elements as sacred narrative. Her legacy lives on in the songs of the Varkari path and in the dignity of her words.

Sources & Further Reading

• Ministry of Culture, Government of India (indiaculture.gov.in).
• Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academy of Letters (sahitya-akademi.gov.in).

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Sant Bahinabai?

Sant Bahinabai was a seventeenth-century woman saint and poet of the Varkari tradition of Maharashtra and a disciple of Sant Tukaram. She is known for her Marathi abhangs, including an autobiographical account of her life.

Was Bahinabai a disciple of Tukaram?

Yes, Bahinabai is honoured as a disciple of Sant Tukaram of Dehu. In her own verses she speaks of him as her guru and describes the blessing she felt in meeting him.

What is Bahinabai known for?

Bahinabai is known for her autobiographical abhangs and for a famous verse that compares the Varkari tradition to a temple raised by successive saints. She is also honoured as one of the leading women voices of Marathi devotion.

Is Sant Bahinabai the same as Bahinabai Chaudhari?

No, Sant Bahinabai of the seventeenth century is a different person from Bahinabai Chaudhari, the modern Marathi poet of Khandesh. The first was a Varkari saint and the second a folk-style poet of the twentieth century.

What is the temple metaphor in Bahinabai's verse?

The temple metaphor describes the Varkari tradition as a temple built by a succession of saints, from Jnaneshwar as the foundation to Tukaram as the crowning finial. It is widely quoted in Maharashtra as a summary of the lineage.

What are atmanivedan abhangs?

Atmanivedan abhangs are autobiographical devotional verses in which a poet narrates her own life as an offering to God. Bahinabai’s verses of this kind are valued as an early example of life-writing by a woman in an Indian language.