Gathering the Bhaktas in Marāṭhī

Abstract

The article "Gathering the Bhaktas in Marāṭhī" by Jon Keune examines how Marathi-speaking devotees in the Varkari and related traditions constructed sacred community through shared narrative, poetry, and collective memory. Keune focuses on the compilation of saints’ stories in bhakta-vijayas and the ways these narratives shaped a vernacular religious identity rooted in devotion to Viṭṭhal. Drawing from hagiographical texts like the Mahīpati's Bhaktavijaya and oral traditions, the article investigates how saints such as Jñāneśvar, Nāmdev, Eknāth, Tukārām, and others were brought together under a common spiritual umbrella. Keune argues that this process of “gathering the bhaktas” was not simply retrospective myth-making but a strategic formation of a regional religious public. By exploring the performative dimensions of storytelling, pilgrimage, and music, Keune shows how memory, language, and affect fused to create a resilient devotional community across caste and social divisions—one that continues to animate Maharashtra’s religious landscape today.