Muktabai

Muktabai Vitthalpant Kulkarni was a saint in the Varkari Movement. She was born in a Marathi family and was the younger sister of Dnyaneshwar, the first Varkari saint. She wrote forty-one abhangs throughout her life.

Early life Muktabai's father's name was Vitthalpant Kulkarni, and her mother was Rukminibai Kulkarni. According to Nath tradition, Muktabai was the youngest of the four children born to Vitthalpant Kulkarni and his wife Rukmanibai. Her father was an orthodox accountant. Muktabai had three elder brothers named Nivruttinath, Dnyaneshwar, and Sopan.

Siblings of Saint Muktabai The siblings Muktabai, Sopan, Dnyaneshwar and Nivrutinath seated on the flying wall greet Changdev seated on a tiger. In the centre, Changdev bows to Dnyaneshwar. Nivruttinath: The eldest brother of Muktabai, Nivrutti was an authority on the philosophy of the Nath. Gahininath, one of the nine Nath gurus, accepted Nivrutti as his disciple and initiated him into the Nath sect, instructing him to propagate devotion to Shri Krishna. Dnyaneshwar accepted his elder brother as his own guru. After the early samadhi of Dnyaneshwar, Nivrutti travelled with his sister Muktai on a pilgrimage along the Tapti River, where they were caught in a thunderstorm and Muktai was swept away. Nivrutti obtained samadhi at Tryambakeshwar. Around 375 abhangs are attributed to him but the authorship of many of them is disputed due to difference in writing style and philosophy. Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296): The second of the siblings was a 13th-century Marathi sant, poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose Dnyaneshwari (a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita) and Amrutanubhav are considered to be milestones in Marathi literature.

Legacy

In many places in Maharashtra, devotees worship Muktabai. In north Maharashtra people worship Muktai and do varis (devotional visits) to Muktai's temple. Varkari consider saint Muktai 'Adishakti', Goddess. Varkaris sing abhangas written by Muktai. They call saint Muktabai - Muktai means mother Muktabai. A town's name is changed from Edlabad to Muktainagar to honor saint Muktabai. This town is administrative center of Muktainagar taluka so the taluka also became Muktainagar taluka. Saint Muktai's abhangas are included in Marathi text books of Balbharati in Maharashtra. Bhagwat Katha readers mention saint Muktai with great respect.