Keshavdas

Keshavdas Biography

Keshavdas was a Sanskrit scholar and a prominent Hindi poet, who lived in the second half of 16^th century and early 17^th century. His life span is roughly calculated to be 1555 – 1617, as there is no authentic record about the exact date or time of birth or death of this celebrated and brilliant poet of ancient Hindi era. It is roughly estimated based on the chronology of his literary compositions. He was fondly called Rasik Priya by others and one of the foremost names among Hindi poets belonging to riti kaal of Hindi literature, when poets wrote about kings. Ratan Bavani, Rasikpriya, Ramchandrika and Kavipriya are some of his major poetry works.

His full name is Keshavdas Mishra. He is also known as Keshavdas or Keshavadasa. He was born probably near to Orchha at Tikamgar in 1955, as per historians. The place is now situated in Madhya Pradesh. Historians also believe that he was exposed to Sanskrit since young, as a part of family tradition. Keshavdas was born into the family of famous scholars such as Dinakara Mishra and Tribikrama Mishra. Also his grandfather, Krishnadatta Mishra, and his father, Kashinatha Mishra too were scholars. Almost all of them were rewarded by rulers for their skills and knowledge. His elder brother, Balabhadra Mishra, was also a poet.

Though most of his family members were Sanskrit scholars, he chose Brij Bhasha, a dialect of Hindi for his writings. He described himself as a "slow-witted Hindi poet. He also used the Sanskrit tradition in his vernacular poetry, which made his a famous writer of his times. The politics of the time also propelled his career. He served in the court of Indrajit Singh, the brother of the Bundela ruler Ram Singh, and later joined the court of Vir Singh Deo. He was granted a jagir of 21 villages.

Published: September 29, 2018

Updated: September 29, 2018