Dadu The Compassionate Mystic

Author's Note

All accomplished Saints or Mystics have the same message to give and their message is very simple. If this is so, then the study of the teachings of any true Saint will fulfill the same purpose, and the teachings of different saints will be mutually supportive. Moreover, the realization that the different Saints or Mystics of different Saints or Mystics of Different places and times speak of the same truths will strengthen our conviction in their teachings. But in order to show that they are unanimous in their views, we must have their teachings readily available to us in a handy and clear-cut form. With this objective in view, a plan to bring out short, authentic books on the life and teachings of noted Mystics of India and some other countries is lately in progress under the stewardship of our beloved Master, Maharaj Charan Singh. With a view to making the Presentation of these teachings authentic, the books under this project have been planned to consist, for the most part, of faithful translations of the cardinal teaching of the Mystics concerned. The present work on Saint Dadu Dayal, a great Mystic of the sixteenth century, is a part of this project.

A number of texts of Dadu Dayal's spiritual poems are now available in Devanagari Script. With but small variations here and there, most of the texts are substantially identical in content. I have however, made my selection from the two volumes of Dadu Dayal ki Bani, published by Belvedere Press, Allahabad (1914). These texts are not only the latest to be published, but also two additional manuscripts of Dadu's poems were consulted in their preparation.

In selecting and arranging verses from all over the texts, care has been taken to preserve the unity of the theme. Despite difficulty in making the selections from amongst a number of almost equally captivating and pertinent verses, and also in preserving the letter and spirit of the original in translation, working on this project has, nevertheless, been quite an exhilarating and edifying experience.

To my knowledge, there is no other book either in Hindi or English which brings out clearly and systematically the spiritual message of Dadu Dayal in the true mystic sense. Dadu, surely, was not an intellectual, academic scholar. Hence no amount of scholary analysis will reveal the esoteric significance of some of his crucial teachings. Only those who have come in contact with a perfect Mystic and the whom a new vista has been opened up through his grace can understand and appreciate them properly.