Gadge Maharaj: (February 23, 1876 - December 20, 1956). Great modern Marathi saint and social reformer. Born at Shengaon (Tal. Daryapur, Dist. Amravati). Last name Janorkar. He is the only child of father Zingrao (Zingaraji) and mother Sakhubai. His original name given by his mother was Debuji. She is the son-in-law of Nagoji Parit, a landlord from Shengaon. His family's original comforts. Business farming; But due to many bad customs of that time, Zingaraji became destitute. Under such circumstances, Zingaraji died at Kotegaon due to addiction (1884).
After that, Maheri (Dapure village, Tal. Murtijapur) came and stayed with Sakhubai Debuji. Ajoli Debuji kept cattle and sang hymns. At this age, he had formed children's bhajan circles. From an early age, he did not believe in racism, violent cults, or customs. Later, Debuji's uncle also started doing good farming. In 1892, he married Kuntabai.
He had four children, Aloka, Mudgal, Kalawati and Govinda. But except for Aloka, there were three minors. From 1905, Debuzibaba devoted himself to public service. Leaving the world, he was on pilgrimage in the state of sadhakavastha. Seeing the extreme ignorance, undesirable customs and superstitions in the society, he accepted the vow of absolute public service and public education.
Debussy was fond of hymns since childhood and his attitude was religious and philanthropic. He effectively used the medium of kirtan for social reform and public education. Although he was illiterate, his language was intelligible and touched the hearts of the common people. In Gujarat, Karnataka, some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, he created awareness through kirtan. Debussy's feature was the question-and-answer dialogue through hymns. Don't steal, don't chain, don't travel to God, don't take out loans these days, don't make vows in the name of Deva-Dharma, don't sacrifice mute animals, don't keep Shivashiv, don't drink alcohol, don't give dowry, mother - To serve the father, to give food to the hungry, not to leave the children without teaching, these were the main topics of social enlightenment through his kirtans. At the end of the issue, he would shout 'Gopala Gopala Devkinandan Gopala' and get the audience involved. Engaging the audience is one of the key features of their kirtan.
Debuji later became known as Gadge Maharaj. He was dressed in a torn robe, with a saddle in his hand and a stick. Therefore, he was also known as Gadge Baba, Godhade Maharaj. Apart from them, from region to region, Chindebuwa, Lotke Maharaj, Chaprebuwa, Vattisadhu etc. Were also familiar with the names. While traveling for public awareness, near Amravati, his 20 Dec. Died 1956. At the police station at Bandra (Mumbai). Nov 8 His famous kirtan in 1956 was the last. His Samadhi is at Amravati.
Man must understand the suffering that has befallen him. By judging his virtues, man brings man to man. Gadge Maharaj seems to have emphasized on this. Ignorance, addiction, poverty brings enough jealousy to man. It makes a man miserable. Recognizing this, Gadge Maharaj's mind did not play in the worldly life. He was saddened by the dominance of established hegemonic traditions and bourgeois mentality. Filled with boredom. Recognizing the cause of the misery in people's lives, they began to attack it. Dedicated his standing life to public service. He started the work of social reform with the aim of relieving grief.
His humanist and socialist philosophy is 'Human service is service to God'. He considers it a blessing to serve the devotees without falling outside the temple. His emphasis was on cleanliness, honesty, and compassion. Outside the temple, they planted trees and distributed the good food given by the devotees to the poor. He used to bring chutney-bread himself and eat it. He had many efforts to eradicate hypocrisy, casteism, untouchability. He used to preach about them by giving poignant examples from his kirtans. He used to say that Shivashiv is a game of empty people. He set out to destroy those who sowed the seeds of inequality in this society. Gadge Baba cleaned the dirt created in the society and convinced the society of the importance of cleanliness. They want cleanliness and equality. Public service and public awareness through public education became the ultimate goal of his life. He was a firm believer in conversion and conversion. He gave a simple and straightforward teaching to the society that devotion to God can be done by staying in the world without getting entangled in the web of spirituality. He used to say, "Saint Tukaram Maharaj is our Guru and I have no disciples."
People had great faith in Gadge Maharaj. So people gave them a lot of money. He gave it all for public works. He helped many educational institutions by spreading education in the society. All the institutions they set up are governed by boards of trustees. Rinmochan Ghat Temple, Murtijapur Gorakshan Sanstha (Dharamshala), Pandharpur Chokhamela Dharamshala-Boarding, Pandharpur Maratha Dharamsala, Pandharpur Parit Dharamshala, Nashik Dharamshala, Alandi Dharamshala, Alandi Parit Dharamshala, Dehu Dharamshala, Trimbakeshwar Dharamshala, Dharamshala, Pune . Institutions he started. In the year 1952, his devotees have set up an organization called 'Shri Gadgem Maharaj Mission'. In the year 2005, Amravati University was renamed as Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University.
