Dasopant Explained

Dasopant (1551-1615) belonged to the Datta sect. He was born in a Deshastha Brahmin family in the village of Narayan Peth.^[1] He was the son of Digambarpant, an official of Bidar's Barid Shahi kingdom, responsible for collecting land revenue and handing it over to the rulers.^[2]

Dasopant wrote mainly in Marathi, was a Sanskrit scholar in which are some of his commentaries. He also composed songs in Kannada, Telugu and Hindi. He is said to have written over 500,000 (5 lakh) couplets, only some of which have been published. He wrote two commentaries on the Gita called 'Gitarnava', and 'Gitarthabodhachandrika' ('Gitartha Chandrika') which is a smaller commentary as compared to his previous book in which he follows the Advaita Siddhanta school of thought. Another book authored by him was the Grantharaja', which is considered a precursor of Dasbodh. However, since most of his works lack significant literary qualities, only a small part of them have been published.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: Language and Literature. 24. Directorate of Government Printing, Stationery and Publications, Maharashtra State. 1971. But the most important among them is Dasopant. He was born in a Deshastha Brahmin family of Narayanpeth, later settled at Ambejogai in Marathwada in 1551 A.D..
2. Book: Dalal, Roshen . Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide . Penguin Books India . 2010 . 978-0-14-341421-6 . 112 . en.
3. Book: Medieval Indian Literature: An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. 1997. 9788126003655.