Shree Samarth Ramdas Swami (Hereinafter referred to as Shree Samarth) was a Sage of the highest order as compared to all the Saints throughout the world if one considers his knowledge of the Parbrahma, his unflinching worship, his being an unparalleled Guru, his literature and the tremendous adulation he received from the masses not only during his times but even now.
He was born in a village, Jamb to Mr. Suryaji and Mrs. Ranoobai Thosar. His original name was Narayan. He lost his father at the age of eight, which turned him into an introvert. After a lot of introspection he finally arrived at the thought of the God, at that tender age. He used to be engrossed in these thoughts and try and find out the ways to meet The God. Then at the age of 12 years Lord Ram himself appeared in front of him and advised him to count the 13 lettered Ram tarak Mantra 108 times at least once a day. Then Lord Ram accepted him as his own disciple. The Lord gave him a new name by which he has been known ever since, Ramdas. Such a thing had never happened after Lord Ram who was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, left his mortal body, thousands of years ago. At the age of 12 years while he was standing on the podium during his marriage ceremony he heard the Brahmins clattering loudly, “Beware”! Immediately after hearing it he knew what it meant and just ran away from the scene and went to the holy city, Nasik, where he started his worship of Lord Ram which lasted for 12 years. He did it the hard way, many a times remaining without food or water, for days together. Every millisecond of this time he spent in the worship of Lord Ram. During this time he was constantly guided from within by greatest worshipper of Lord Ram, Hanuman. After 12 years of extensive Sadhana he got the blessings of Lord Ram again and through him he also got the real knowledge and then he embarked on a pilgrimage of most of the holy places of India which he completed in 12 years, bare feet. After finishing the pilgrimage he went back to Mahabaleshwar. Then at Masur he celebrated the birth day of Lord Ram wherein thousands of people took part in the religious activities. He started gathering people around him which was essential for his ultimate goal of establishing the Hindu religion in its original form which was in a shambles because of hundreds of years of Muslim rule in the country. Next year he found the statues of Lord Ram in the deep waters of the river Krishna near Angapur. He built a temple at Chafal and installed them ceremoniously according to the Hindu tradition. He celebrated the birth day of Lord Ram that year at the newly built temple.
The only Hindu King of any substance, who spent his whole life fighting the foreign Muslim rulers, Shree Shivaji Maharaj requested Shree Samarth to accept him as his disciple and knowing him thoroughly well Shree Samarth immediately consented. Shree Shivaji Maharaj from this time onwards always took Shree Samarth’s advice in all the important matters. Then Shree Shivaji Maharaj as a token of respect towards the Guru offered Shree Samarth his whole kingdom, saying that he will look after it as only a caretaker, but it will belong to Shree Samarth. Shree Samarth was moved by this gesture and praised Shree Shivaji Maharaj but told him that anyhow he himself as Parbrahma was the Atman in Shree Shivaji Maharaj and hence this wasn’t required at all. Instead he asked Shree Shivaji Maharaj to prepare his Empire’s flag in the most sacred color in Hindu religion, Maroon. If at all any there will be very few parallels to such a disciple and Guru.
In the meanwhile, according to the wishes of Shree Samarth 11 temples of Hanuman had been established and the Head Priests appointed. Shree Samarth then went to Jamb as his mother passed away. After returning back he went to Karnataka on a religious upheaval mission. On way to Karnataka he established a Math in Miraj and appointed a woman disciple, Venabai as the head Priestess. On reaching Tanjavar he was received by Vyankojiraje, the brother of Shree Shivaji Maharaj, who was the King of Tanjavar. He also told Shree Samarth of his desire to become his disciple to which Shree Samarth consented. At Tanjavar one of the very revered religious figures, Pundit Raghunath also became the disciple of Shree Samarth.
After coming back to Sajjangad, Shree Samarth started writing his epic, “The Dasbodha”. He also established a temple of the Goddess at the Pratap Fort. Shivaji Maharaj used to visit him frequently for advice and seeing the qualities of this disciple of his, Shree Samarth told him the crux of the ultimate knowledge which one has to acquire to merge with the Parbrahma. He then completed the remaining chapters of the Dasbodha. After the death of Shivaji Maharaj he wrote a letter to the heir to the throne, Sambhaji (Shivaji’s son) which is considered a milestone by even today’s political scientists. His job of the Hindu religious renaissance done Shree Samarth left his mortal body and finally united with the Parbrahma ending a life which was so multifaceted that without his mention almost no field can be considered as complete. He left his mortal body at Sajjangad at the age of 73 years.