Rang Avadhoot, born Pandurang Vitthalapant Valame, was a mystic saint-poet belonging to Datta-panth of Hinduism. He was a social worker and independence activist before accepting asceticism. He is credited for the expansion of Datta-panth in Gujarat state of India. He has written more than 45 works mostly concerning spirituality and devotion.
Early life
Rang Avadhoot was born Pandurang Vitthalapant Valame on 21 November 1898 in Godhra in a Marathi Brahmin family of Vitthalpant Jairam Valame and Rukmini. His family belonged to Devle village. His father moved to Godhra as a caretaker of Viththal temple. His father died in a plague in 1902. He had a brother named Narayan. He had met his spiritual teacherVasudevanand Saraswati in 1905. He was religiously inclined since his childhood. He received his school education in Godhra and matriculated in 1917 from Telang Highschool, Godhra. For higher studies, he joined Gujarat College in Ahmedabad and completed his first year there. He moved to Baroda College in Baroda for the second year. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, he left studies for the participation in the non-cooperation movement in 1920. When Gujarat Vidyapith was founded, he joined and graduated among its first batch of the students in 1921. He befriended Amritlal Modi and Ambalal Vyas there. In Panchmahal region, he participated in the independence movement activities with his friends and others. He briefly worked with Swami Anand at the Navjivan trust. He later joined the Rashtriya Adarsh Vinaymandir school in Ahmedabad as the teacher of Sanskrit in 1921. In 1922, he decided to never marry and became involved in social work and politics.
Spiritual career
Due to his spiritual inclination, he left his job and accepted asceticism. After spending some time in Ranapur, in December 1925, he moved to Nareshwar on the bank of Narmada river. He recited Saraswati's Shri Dattapurana108 times there. He completed the Narmada Prarikrama in 108 days on foot in 1927. He meditated and undertook tapa. He again completed the Parikrama in 1930. His residence Dattakutir was constructed and a trust was formed in 1931. In 1936, when his younger brother died, his mother moved to Nareshwar and lived there til her death in 1967. A hospital was also built there later. He died on 19 November 1968 at Haridwar on the bank of the Ganga river. His body was brought to Nareshwar and cremated two days later on 21 November. His followers worship him as an incarnation of Dattatreya. He played an important role in spreading Datta-panth in Gujarat, India. His ashram is located at Nareshwar, Gujarat.
Works
Rang Avadhoot was fluent in Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, English and Sanskrit. Under pen name of Ganjeri, he started writing columns on the contemporary issues in dailies. Between 1918 and 1925, he wrote and translated several works. He translated Ernest Howard Crosby's Tolstoy as a Schoolmaster as Tolstoy Ane Shikshan in Gujarati.Upanishadni Vato and Vishnupuranni Varta are his works on Upanishads and Vishnu Purana. Girvahbhasha Pravesh 1-2 is a work on Sanskrit grammar which he prepared for students when he taught Sanskrit in a school. Sadbodhshatakam-Balbodhini is a commentary on shlokas selected by Kaka Kalelkar from Bhartṛhari's Śatakatraya and dedicated to the students. He also co-translated Leo Tolstoy's What Shall We Do Then? as Tyare Karishu Shu? in Gujarati with Narhari Parikh. His other works during this period include Rentiyanu Rahasya, Swaraj-Kirtan, Ahinsa Etle Shu?, columns published under title of Bhangno Loto. After accepting asceticism, he wrote about 45 works mostly focused on spirituality and devotion to Dattatreya. He wrote Bhajans collected under the title Avadhooti Anand. Ranghridayam has stotras on knowledge and devotion. His Shri Guruleelamrit contains more than 19,005 dohras divided in three volumes and 148 chapters. He composedDattabavani, a 52 stanza poem dedicated to Dattatreya which is popular in Gujarat. Patrageeta is a collection of 16 letters about spirituality addressed to his friend Amrutlal Modi. Rangtarang is a collection of Marathi Abhang Bhajans. Amar Adesh is a collection of his various lectures. Shrirang Patramanjusha 1-2 is a collection of letters addressed to friends and relatives. Sangeetgeeta is original verse translation of Bhagwad Geeta in Gujarati. His other major works are Ranghridayam,Nareshwar Mahatmya, Shri Vasudevnam-Sudha, Vasudev Saptashati, Shri Saptashati Gurucharitra, Dattayag-paddhati, Shri Gurumurti Charitra, Prashnottargeeta, Datta Namsmaran.
