Muktabai

Muktabai (c. 1279–1297) was the youngest of the Nath-influenced Varkari siblings — sister of Dnyaneshwar, Nivruttinath, and Sopandev — whose ~40 abhangs include the famous Tatiche Abhang (to her father), and who received the Nath transmission from Changdev.

Background

Daughter of Vitthalpant (the excommunicated sannyasi who returned to family life) at Paithan; the four children (Nivrutti, Dnyandev, Sopan, Mukta) were outcaste-born and purified by the Pandharpur assembly’s acceptance; her short life (dying at 18 by the tradition’s account) produced verse of startling authority.

Spiritual Contribution

The Tatiche Abhang (counseling her father after the family’s public humiliation — mercy and courage in verse); the 40 abhangs on yoga and devotion (the Nath-Varkari synthesis); her receipt of Changdev’s initiation into the Nath sampradaya (the nodal point joining the two traditions).

Legacy and Impact

The Nath-Varkari link embodied; the Wari sings her abhangs; her counsel-poems are the Varkari canon’s shortest and most quoted.

Verification notes

• The biography is traditional (as all Dnyaneshwar-family accounts); the corpus is documented.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).