ABSTRACT
One of the most striking impressions one gets upon a close and extensive reading of early Mahānubhāv literature is of the care, precision and depth of its attention to geography. Some of this attention is paid on the macro-level, to Maharashtra as a whole and to various subregions within it. For example, one of Cakradhar’s commands recorded in the ‘Ācār’ section of the Sūtrapāṭh is ‘Stay in Maharashtra’ (mahārāṣṭrīṃ asāveṃ) (Sūtrapāṭh, ‘Ācār’ 24). This simple command may seem a bit paradoxical coming from someone whose body was born in Gujarat, 1 and the Sūtrapāṭh does not really explain it. The text does, however, place this command immediately after another, ‘Do not go to the Kannada land or the Telugu land’ (kānaḍadeśā telaṅgadeśā na vacāveṃ) (Sūtrapāṭh, ‘Ācār’ 23), which it does explain: ‘Those lands are full of sense pleasure. Ascetics are considered worthy of honor there’ (te vīṣaebahaḷa deśa. tetha avadhūta mānya). In other words, Maharashtra is a good place for ascetics because it has few sense pleasures and ascetics do not get much respect there – two conditions that are advantageous for the practice of asceticism. Later Mahānubhāv literature transforms this simple and somewhat backhanded compliment into elaborate praises of the glory of Maharashtra. 2
