Appreciation

This poem is in ‘avalvani’, with paradoxes and bizarre statements such as the water dispensing maid raising water from the well without pail and rope, and the heroine walking without feet and singing without voice. Such poems are like Zen kuans to tease away the rational and enable the devotee to plunge into the mystical.

About The Author

Dhiro (second half of the 18th century; died in 1825) was born in Gothda near the town of Savli in the Vadodara distict of Central Gujarat. He belonged to the community of barots, traditional songsters of legends. His family followed the Vaishnav sect of Hinduism, and he opted for the Ramanand sect of Vaishnavism. As a poet he is said to have been the beneficiary of a miracle man’s benediction. The cantankerousness of his wife is said to have nudged him towards asceticism and the path of devotion to God. Dhiro was a poet who utilized paradoxes and yogic imagery to invoke the greatness and mystery of Godhead. Many of his compositions were in Raga Kafi, and so are called Kafis. There is a strong contemplative, experiential, and prescriptive vein in his poetry. In a number of his Kafis, he has used a dialectical, question – answer format. He has also composed a number of verses that are critical of narrow, dogmatic sects.