Samartha Rāmdās Svāmī (1608-1681), a Brahman saint (sant: good or exemplary person), hails from the Marathi-speaking area today demarcated as Maharashtra state and is listed among the five most important Marathi poet-saints (a common gloss for Sants). Yet his inclusion among famous Marathi Sants is surely not due to his name, which labels him as a “servant of [Lord] Rāma.” Rāmdās’ writings are composed in the vernacular Old Marathi. His two most well-known Marathi works are the Manāce Ślok (Verses Addressed to the Mind) and his mag…