DhannaBhagat was a devotee of Lord Krishna and a poet. His three verses are found in the AdiGranth of the Sikhs. So, both religions include him in the pantheon of saints.
Profile
DhannaBhagat was born on 1415 in Dhuwa in the Tonk District of Rajasthan. He was born into a Jat family and his parents were RameshwarJat and Ganga Bai Gadwal. His parents were simple, uneducated farmers highly devoted to the Lord and in serving wandering saints. The saints stayed with the family for a day or two. On one occasion a Brahmin visited them who took a bath near the well and did Pooja to a Shaligram (a fossil stone representing Lord Vishnu). Seeing this, the young Dhanna wanted an idol to worship. The Brahmin refused to part with the Shaligram and Dhanna began to cry loudly. Not knowing what to do the Brahmin picked up a stone found near the well and gave it to Dhanna. From that day Dhanna began to worship the stone and he forgot his play and everything associated with childhood. He would offer his food to the stone and the stone obviously would not eat it. So he would go hungry. This went on for days and he became thin and weak till one day the idol that he worshipped, appeared before him and ate the food. DhannaBhagat’s guru was Ramanand. He, like his parents was known for his hospitality. Over the years it is believed that he moved from worshipping an idol to revelling in Brahman, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. Not much is known about his death.
Philosophy Propounded
There was no philosophy that he spoke about but he lived his saintly life which happened to inspire many people around him. There are many stories of his miracles.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
DhannaBhagat’s guru was the famous Ramanad who was the guru of Kabir as well. DhannaBhagat wrote verses on Lord Krishna and about the formless lord. Some of the verses are seen in AdiGranth, the holy book of Sikhs. So he is venerated amongst the Sikhs as well. Mirabai, another devotee of Lord Krishna has mentioned DhannaBhagat and his divinity in one of her songs. In 1974 a Punjabi film was made on DhannaBhagat.
