y
the Buddhists. Such hymns were written before the time of Caitanya but
after him they became extremely numerous[638] and their tone and style
are said to change. The ecstasies and visions of which they tell are
those described in his biographies and this emotional poetry has
profoundly influenced all classes in Bengal. But there was and still
is a considerable hostility between the Saktas and Vishnuites.

4

A form of Vishnuism, possessing a special local flavour, is connected
with the Maratha country and with the names of Namdev, Tukaram[639]
and Ramdas, the spiritual preceptor of Sivaji. The centre of this
worship is the town of Pandharpur and I have not found it described as
a branch of any of the four Vishnuite Churches: but the facts that
Namdev wrote in Hindi as well as in Marathi, that many of his hymns
are included in the Granth, and that his sentiments show affinities to
the teaching of Nanak, suggest that he belonged to the school of
Ramanand. There is however a difficulty about his date. Native
tradition gives 1270 as the year of his birth but the language of his
poems both in Marathi and Hindi is said to be too modern for this
period and to indicate that he lived about 1400,[640] when he might
easily have felt the influence of Ramanand, for he travelled in the
north.

Most of his poetry however has for its centre the temple of Pandharpur
where was worshipped a deity called Vitthala, Vittoba or
Pandurang. It is said that the first two names are dialectic
variations of Vishnu, but that Pandurang is an epithet of
Siva.[641] There is no doubt that the deity of Pandharpur has for many
centuries been identified with Krishna, who, as in Bengal, is god
the lover of the soul. But the hymns of the Marathas are less sensuous
and Krishna is coupled not with his mistress Radha, but with his
wife Rukmini. In fact Rukminipati or husband of Rukmini is one of
his commonest titles. Namdev's opinions varied at different times and
perhaps in different moods: like most religious poets he cannot be
judged by logic or theology. Sometimes he inveighs against
idolatry--understood as an attempt to limit God to an image--but in
other verses he sings the praises of Pandurang, the local deity, as
the lord and creator of all. His great message is that God--by
whatever name he is called--is everywhere and accessible to all,
accessible without ceremonial or philosophy. "Vows, fasts and
austerities are not needful, nor need you g