Then
comes the name of Bhanudas, whose name has already appeared in the earlier
paragraphs.During the sixteenth century it was Eknath, the great-grandson of Bhanudas that
was active in the field. He has several important literary contributions to his credit.
His first attempt was directed towards bringing out an edition of Jnyaneshvari in a form
that would be as close to the original as possible. For this purpose he collected a number
of old manuscripts and edited the entire text. It is this text that forms the basis of the
modern editions of the famous work. His Bhavarth Ramayana and his commentary on the
eleventh chapter of the Bhagavat Purana, known as Ekanathi Bhagavat, are the more
well-known of his works. Next in chronological sequence comes Tukaram that famous saint of
Dehu. He was a contemporary of Shivaji and belonged to the vani community. His abhangas
are some of the most moving and passionate devotional songs composed by the devotees of
Vitthal. Their influence is undiminished even today. Janabai, Chokha-mela, Gorakumbhar,
Savata-mali all have composed a large number of abhangas that are greatly popular.
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