Gyandil Das

Gyandil Das (1821-1883) was a Nepalese poet and social reformer, later known as a "Saint" . He opposed existing social discrimination such as prevalent caste biases and gender-based violence through his written compositions.

Gyan Dil Das
Born	Srikrishna Lamichhane 1821 Ilam, Nepal
Died	1883 Kingdom of Sikkim
Pen name	Saint Gyan Dil Das
Occupation	Saint
Language	Nepali
Genre	Poems, Religious songs
Notable works	Udayalahari

Gyandil Das was born to a Brahmin family in a village near Fikkal, in Eastern Nepal. He had a deep knowledge of Vedas and Puranas. Belonging to a higher Brahmin caste, he showed empathy towards the lower caste people suppressed by the higher caste. Gyandil began to write against social injustices, which incited Jung Bahadur Rana to arrest and imprison him for six months.[1] After being freed from the jail, he joined the prominent Josmani religious sect and inducted the Nirguna (attribute-less God) concept in the Nepali devotional poetry. He composed 'Udayalahari' in 1877, in Darjeeling, which consists of verses in devotion to the Nirguna Brahma.[2]

Gyandil Das was bestowed the Josmani Dikshya by his Guru, Shyamdil Das. After becoming a Josmani follower, he visited many places in Eastern Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim to promote and expand the religious ideology.

Poetry

Gyandil Das composed poems, devotional songs and verses. Most of his works are written in traditional jhyaure meter 5-5-6. He has authored Tungna Bhajans, Jhyaure Bhajans and Udayalahari.

He died in Geiling, Western Sikkim, in 1883. The Nepal Government honored him by publishing a Saint Gyandil Das postage stamp in 1980.

References

1. Chhetri, Dr. Rajkumar (28 December 2015). "Sant Kavi Gyandil Das ra unko adhyatmachetanamulak kabyatmakta: parichayatmak nirupan" [Saint poet Gyandil Das and his spiritual-sense poetry: Introductory formulation] (in Nepali). Retrieved 18 July 2018.
2. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature. Sahitya Akademy. 1987. p. 970. ISBN 8126018038.