Indian Poet

The famous poets of India always put culture first in their writings and poems. Some demonstrated eternal wisdom, a path to peace, and devotions, while others spread Bhakti movements.

These beautiful poems from the famous poets of India contain hidden and meaningful life

We must learn about the famous poets of India and the culture of India in the 14th century by reading their beautiful poems, which contain meaningful life's motives.

List of the Famous Poets Of India and Their Poems

Dnyaneshwar Maharaj

Dnyaneshwar Maharaj (1275 - 1296), there are a total of 18 chapters in Dnyaneshwari (Eternal Wisdom of Dnyaneshwari is Available on Amazon in Paperback by author, Vassant Shirvaikar),

it is the greatest novel written by Dnyaneshwar Maharaj who was once a great saint, the Holy Spirit who is called Mauli was a 13th-century poet and yogi. He lived only for 21 years and has contributed in the form of literature.

Poem Pasaydan in English

“Now may the cosmic God be satisfied with my rhetoric and give me this Pasaydan (offering).॥ 
Let the wickedness of the wicked disappear, let them be interested in doing good deeds.
Create a sense of friendship in all creatures. ॥ 
May the darkness of ignorance of the sinful man disappear, may the sun of self-righteousness rise in the universe.
May the wishes of life be fulfilled. ॥
May the God-fearing saints who shower all kinds of Mars come down to earth and meet the creatures. ॥
Those (saints) are the walking gardens of Kalpataru, the villages of conscious Chintamani gems, the speaking seas of nectars.
May the saints who are pure moons without any spots, without sun without heat, be the friends of all creatures. ॥
All three should be perfect in all their pleasures and should serve the Primordial Man of the universe uninterruptedly. ॥
Those who have this scripture as their life should conquer the visible and invisible sufferings of this world. ॥
Vishweshwar Guru Shri Nivruttinath said that you will get this Prasad. Gyan dev was happy with this groom. ॥

Saint Muktabai

daughter of three great Maharashtrian saints, Nivruttinath, Dnyaneshwar and Sopan. Muktabai (b. 1279—d 1297) was an Indian saint and poet.

The one who saw poverty and closely watched the thirstiness and shock of losing her parents. However, she and her brothers dared absorb the illiterate orthodox Brahmin caste’s pressure on their family in their young age.

Muktabai’s elder brother, Dnyaneshwar Mauli was a prominent figure who wrote Dnyaneshwari at the age of 16 and lived for only 21 years (went in a cave for deep meditation to contemplate higher consciousness and never returned).

Poem “Though he has no form” by Muktabai

Though he has no form
  My eyes saw him
  His glory is fire in my mind
  That knows
  His secret inner forms
  Invented by the soul.
  What is beyond the mind
  Has no boundary.
  In it our senses end.

Poet Tulsidas

Poet Tulsidas (1543 – 1623) was renowned for his devotion for lord Ram. Therefore, he wrote Hanuman Chalisa, a prayer to win the heart of Pavan putra (Hanuman) to show how much he worships Ram.

It is a holy prayer for Bajarag Bali Hanuman. Tulsidas was a saint as same as another Indian poet and saint like Tukaram, Kabir, Dnyaneshwar Maharaj. The lord Shiva once said to Parvati that Tulsidas was incarceration of poet Valmiki who wrote the great Ramayana and considered the first poet in Sanskrit Literature.

Hanuman Chalisa in English

Jai Hanuman gyan gun sagar
Jai Kapis tihun lok ujagar
Ram doot atulit bal dhama
Anjaani putra Pavan sut nama
Mahabir Bikram Bajrangi
Kumati nivar sumati ke sangi
Kanchan varan viraj subesa
Kanan kundal kunchit kesa
Hath vajra aur dhvaja viraje
Kaandhe moonj janeyu saje
Shankar suvan kesri nandan
Tej pratap maha jag vandan
Vidyavan guni ati chatur
Ram kaj karibe ko aatur
Prabu charitra sunibe ko rasiya
Ram Lakhan Sita man basiya
Sukshma roop dhari siyahi dikhava
Vikat roop dhari lank jarava
Bhima roop dhari asur sanghare
Ramachandra ke kaj sanvare
Laye Sanjivan Lakhan jiyaye
Shri Raghuvir harashi ur laye
Raghupati kinhi bahut badai
Tum mam priye Bharat hi sam bhai
Sahas badan tumharo yash gaave
Asa kahi Shripati kanth lagaave
Sankadhik Brahmadi Muneesa
Narad Saarad sahit Aheesa
Yam Kuber Digpaal jahan te
Kavi Kovid kahi sake kahan te
Tum upkar Sugreevahin keenha
Ram milaye rajpad deenha
Tumharo mantra Vibheeshan maana
Lankeshwar bhaye sab jag jana
Yug sahastra jojan par Bhanu
Leelyo tahi madhur phal janu
Prabhu mudrika meli mukh mahee
Jaladhi langhi gaye achraj nahee
Durgam kaj jagath ke jete
Sugam anugraha tumhre tete
Ram dwaare tum rakhvare
Hoat na agya binu paisare
Sub sukh lahae tumhari sar na
Tum rakshak kahu ko dar naa
Aapan tej samharo aapai
Teenhon lok hank te kanpai
Bhoot pisaach nikat nahin aavai
Mahavir jab naam sunave
Nase rog harae sab peera
Japat nirantar Hanumant beera
Sankat te Hanuman chudavae
Man kram vachan dhyan jo lavai
Sab par Ram tapasvee raja
Tin ke kaj sakal Tum saja
Aur manorath jo koi lavai
Soi amit jeevan phal pavai
Charon jug partap tumhara
Hai persidh jagat ujiyara
Sadhu Sant ke tum rakhware
Asur nikandan Ram dulhare
Ashta sidhi nav nidhi ke dhata
As var deen Janki mata
Ram rasayan tumhare pasa
Sada raho Raghupati ke dasa
Tumhare bhajan Ram ko pavai
Janam janam ke dukh bisraavai
Anth kaal Raghuvir pur jayee
Jahan janam Hari Bakht Kahayee
Aur Devta chit na dharahi
Hanumanth sehi sarve sukh karehi
Sankat kate mite sab peera
Jo sumirai Hanumat balbeera
Jai Jai Jai Hanuman Gosayin
Kripa karahu Gurudev ki nyahin
Jo sat bar path kare kohi
Chutahi bandhi maha sukh hohi
Jo yah padhe Hanuman Chalisa
Hoye siddhi sakhi Gaurisa
Tulsidas sada hari chera
Keejai nath hridaye mein dera
Pavan tanay sankat harana, Mangal moorati roop I
Ram Lakhan Sita sahit, Hridaya basahu sur bhoop II

One of the Famous Poets Of India, Maharashtra, Saint Tukaram

Tukobaraya (Tukoba – Saint Tukaram) of 17th century Hindu poet and saint of Maharashtra known popular for his devotional poetry and Bhakti Movements.

The poem, “Vrukshavalli Amha Soyari Vanchari” is a unique soul-scrubbing, that makes you fall in love with nature, animals, and birds.

“Vrukshavalli Amha Soyari”

वृक्ष वल्ली आम्हां सोयरीं वनचरें । पक्षी ही सुस्वरें आळविती ।। येणें सुखें रुचे एकांताचा वास । नाही गुण दोष अंगा येत ।। आकाश मंडप पृथुवी आसन । रमे तेथें मन क्रीडा करी ।। कंथाकुमंडलु देहउपचारा । जाणवितो वारा अवसरु ।। हरिकथा भोजन परवडी विस्तार । करोनि प्रकार सेवूं रुची ।। तुका म्हणे होय मनासी संवाद । आपुला चि वाद आपणांसी ।।

Read complete exposition of Vrukshavalli Amha Soyari here

Kabir Das

Kabir Das, a mystical soul of the 15th century who had spent his early life in a Muslim family.

His followers claimed that he was born in womb from a widow and his mother left Kabir alone in the universe (as to escape her from the bruising of people and society) thus, the Muslim family of Kabir was his second parents.

Poem "हीरा सोई सराहिये" by Kabir Das

हीरा सोई सराहिये
 सहे घनन की चोट
 कपट को रंगे मानवा
 परखत निकरा खोट
 हीरा तहाँ ना खोलिये
 जहाँ कुंजड़ों की हाट
 सहजे गाँठि बाँधी के
 लगिये अपनी बात
 हीरा सोई सराहिये…
 हीरा परा बाजार में
 रहा छार लपटाय
 केतिहे मूरख पची मुए
 कोई पारखी लिया उठाय
 हीरा सोई सराहिये…

Read complete Analysis of the poem here

Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Jyotiba Phule (b. 3 Jan 1831 — d. 10 March 1897) was one of the gods gifted Indian educationalist and wife of great social reformer Jyotiba Phule (she got married at the age of 9).

Immense contribution of both husband and wife. Their work was countless to the Indian education system and traditional reformation. Both made people aware of unnecessary customs which were dangerous to humanity and their success.

Poem: “The Greatest Wealth” by Savitribai Phule

Early in the morning,
 Perform your ambulation,
 Having become clean and tidy,
 Pay your respects to parents and elders.
 Remembering the name of God,
 Immerse yourself in studies,
 Waste not these precious days,
 by insisting on going home.
 Study hard, get educated,
 Treat knowledge as your God,
 Diligently take advantage of it,
 Concentrating with all your heart.
 Knowledge is wealth,
 Greater than all riches,
 Wise is considered he,
 Who acquires it.

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu (b. 13 Feb 1879 — d. 2 March 1949) was a not only Indian political leader, activist but also a great poet as well as a woman of India and celebrated nationally.

She was one of the key figures of the Indian independence movement. Naidu aimed to help diminish the ruling of the British in India during the years of 1912 to 1947.

Poem “The Bazaars of Hyderabad” by Sarojini Naidu

What do you sell, oye Marchant?
 Richly your wares are displayed.
 Turbans of crimson and Silver
 Mirrors with panels of amber,
 Daggers with handles of jade
 What do you weigh, oye Vendors
 Saffron and lentil and rice
 What do you grind oye maidens?
 Sandalwood, henna, and spice.
 What do you call oye Pedlars?
 Chessmen and ivory dice.
 What do you make oye Goldsmith?
 Wristlet, anklet, and ring.
 Bells for the feet of blue pigeons,
 Frail as a Dragon’s-fly’s wing, girdles of gold for the dancers,
 Scabbards of gold for the king […]

Kamala Das

The real name of Indian writer, poet and failed politician Kamala Das (b. 31 March — d. 31 May 2009) was Kamala Surayya.

And most of her Malayalam writings by pen name, MadhaviKutty. Her most liked subjects in writing reckoning child education, political issues and labouring women related topics.

Poem: The Looking Glass by Kamala Das

Getting a man to love you is easy
Only be honest about your wants as woman.
Stand nude before the glass with him
so that he sees himself the stronger one
And believes it so, and you so much more
Softer, younger, lovelier.
Admit your Admiration.
Notice the perfection Of his limbs,
his eyes reddening under the shower,
the shy walk across the bathroom floor,
dropping towels, and the jerky way he
Urinates.
All the fond details that make
him male and your only man.
Gift him all, gift him what makes you woman,
the scent of long hair, the musk of sweat between the breasts,
the warm shock of menstrual blood, and all yours
Endless female hungers.
Oh yes, getting a man to love is easy,
but living without him afterwards may have to be
Faced.
A living without life when you move around,
meeting strangers, with your eyes that gave up their search,
with ears that hear only his last voice calling out your name,
and your body which once under his touch had gleamed
Like burnished brass, now drab and destitute. 

Poet Ramanujan

Ramanujan (b. 16 March 1929 — d. 13 July 1993) was an Indian literary scholar and poet. However, he was born to mathematician and astrologer, Attipat Krishnaswami, in Mysore.

He spent his 30 years at the University of Chicago. The well-known writer in Indian literature community considered notable English poet of 1960. He wrote many essays and translated many Indian works into English which depicts the Indian Culture.

“Obituary” Poem by Poet Ramanujan

Father, when he passed on,
left dust on a table of papers,
left debts and daughters,
a bed-wetting grandson
named by the toss
of a coin after him, a house that leaned
slowly through our growing
years on a bent coconut
tree in the yard.
Being the burning type,
he burned properly
at the cremation as before, easily and at both ends,
left his eye coins in the ashes that didn’t
look one bit different,
several spinal discs, rough,
some burned to coal,
for sons to pick gingerly and throw as the priest said,
facing east where three rivers met
near the railway station;
no long-standing headstone
with his full name and two dates
to hold in their parentheses
everything he didn’t quite
manage to do himself,
like his caesarian birth
in a Brahmin ghetto
and his death by heart-failure in the fruit market.
But someone told me
he got two lines
in an inside column
of a Madras newspaper
sold by the kilo
exactly four weeks later
to street hawkers who sell it in turn
to the small groceries
where I buy salt,
coriander,
and jaggery
in newspaper cones
that I usually read for fun, and lately
in the hope of finding
these obituary lines.
And he left us
a changed mother
and more than
one annual ritual.

Atal Bihari was a former PM of India as well as One of the Famous Poets Of India

Atal Bihari Vajpayee (b. 25 Dec 1924-d. 6 Aug 2018) was a real statesman who had brought many changes including domestic and infrastructural reforms encouraged on research and development.

Apart from his successful political career, he was a great poet and writer. His political party symbol was Lotus (Bhartiy Janata Party) one of the best bodies ever made in India. A great speaker whose words and speeches were wonderful all the times and could result into some miracles.

His poem, (हार नहीं मानूँगा, रार नहीं ठानूँगा, काल के कपाल पर लिखता मिटाता हूँ।गीत नया गाता हूँ। ) is one of the best poems he ever written.

टूटे हुए तारों से फूटे बासंती स्वर ,
पत्थर की छाती में उग आया नव अंकुर,
झरे सब पीले पात,
कोयल की कूक रात,
प्राची में अरुणिमा की रेख देख पाता हूं।
गीत नया गाता हूँ।
टूटे हुए सपनों की सुने कौन सिसकी?
अंतर को चीर व्यथा पलकों पर ठिठकी।
हार नहीं मानूँगा,
रार नहीं ठानूँगा,
काल के कपाल पर लिखता मिटाता हूँ।
गीत नया गाता हूँ।
बेनकाब चेहरे हैं,
दाग बड़े गहरे है,
टूटता तिलस्म , आज सच से भय खाता हूँ।
गीत नहीं गाता हूँ।
लगी कुछ ऐसी नज़र,
बिखरा शीशे सा शहर,
अपनों के मेले में मीत नहीं पाता हूँ।
गीत नहीं गाता हूँ।
पीठ में छुरी सा चाँद,
राहु गया रेख फाँद,
मुक्ति के क्षणों में बार बार बंध जाता हूँ।
गीत नहीं गाता हूँ।

Annabhau Sathe

Maharashtra’s legend Annabhau Sathe and his literature has always been recommendable.

One of the top Dalit activists from the state after iconic figure Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Jyotiba Phule, as well as, Sathe was one of the founding members of “Lal Bawta Kalapathak”. Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe (was his real name) wrote almost 35 novels in Marathi, 14 short stories, and many to count his real meanings of life stated poems achieved many Maharashtra’s poem loving hearts.

Dalit shahirs of Maharashtra: Annabhau Sathe’s powerful song, one of his favorite poems “माझी मैना गावावर राहिली !” (“My mynah bird stayed in the village!”)

माझी मैना गावावर राहिली |
 माझ्या जिवाची होतिया काहिली ||
 ओतीव बांधा | रंग गव्हाला |
 कोर चंद्राची | उदात्त गुणांची |
 मोठ्या मनाची | सीता ती माझी रामाची |
 हसून बोलायची | मंद चालायची |
 सुगंध केतकी | सतेज कांती |
 घडीव पुतली सोन्याची | नव्या नवतीची |
 काडी दवन्याची |रेखीव भुवया |
 कमान जणू इन्द्रधनुची | हिरकणी हिरयाची
 काठी आंधल्याची | तशी ती माझी गरीबाची|
 मैना रत्नाची खाण | माझा जिव की प्राण |[…]

Read analysis of the above poem here

Rabindranath Tagore is One of The Renowned Poets Of India

Rabindranath Tagore born Bhanu Singh Thakur, a literary soul composes many verses in the universe, and he is famous for one of his works, Gitanjali.

A book of the poem on devotion. Apart from this, he has written India’s national anthem, “Jan Gan Man Adhi Na Ek Jai hai” A long ago he already inclined Bengali and later entire India to his new and next level of literature. In 1913 India had found a Nobel person in the literary world, who had become the fist non-European to win the prize. Most of the work had not got known to the world as being a Bengali and considered him as a Bard of Bengal in literature.

Poem: Vocation By Poet Rabindranath Tagore

When the gong sounds ten in the morning, and
 I walk to school by our lane,
 Every day I meet the hawker crying, “Bangles,
 crystal bangles!”
 There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no
 road he must take, no place he must go to, no
 Time when he must come home.
 I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in
 The road, crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!”
 When at four in the afternoon, I come back from
 the school,
 I can see through the gate of that house the
 Gardener digging the ground.
 He does what he likes with his spade, the soils
 his clothes with dust, nobody takes him to
 Task, if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet.
 I wish I were a gardener digging away at the
 Garden with nobody to stop me from digging.
 Just as it gets dark in the evening and my
 mother sends me to bed,
 I can see through my open window the
 Watchman walking up and down.
 The lane is dark and lonely, and the street lamp
 Stands like a giant with one red eye in its head.
 The watchman swings his lantern and walks
 with his shadow at his side, and never once
 Goes to bed in his life.
 I wish I were a watchman walking the street
 all night, chasing the shadows with mine
 Lantern.

Munshi Premchand

Munshi Premchand, the man who was born as Dhanpat Rai Srivastav on 31st July 1880 Lambai, in north India.

He was once a teacher, a school administrator, editor and founder of his journal publication, Hans and Jagaran. Most of the famous work is in Hindi, Urdu and Russian Literature. All the work of Munshi had addressed and delivered in April 1936. The meeting was held at All India progressive writer’s association in Lucknow. Urdu writer Syed Sajjad Zaheer had organized the meeting.

One of the poems by Premchand

सन् अट्ठारह सौ अस्सी, लमही सुंदर ग्राम।प्रेमचंद को जनम भयो, हिन्दी साहित काम।।
परमेश्वर पंचन बसें, प्रेमचंद कहि बात।हल्कू कम्बल बिन मरे, वही पूस की रात।।
सिलिया को भरमाय के, पंडित करता पाप।धरम ज्ञान की आड़ में, मनमानी चुपचाप।।
बेटी बुधिया मर गई, कफन न पायो अंग।घीसू माधू झूमते, मधुशाला के संग।।
होरी धनिया मर गए, कर न सके गोदान।जीवनभर मेहनत करी, प्रेमचंद वरदान।।
मुन्नी तो तरसत रही, आभूषण नहि पाई।झुनिया गोबर घूमते, बिन शिक्षा के माहि।।
बेटी निर्मला कह रही, कन्या दीजे मेल।जीवनभर को मरण है, ब्याह होय बेमेल।।
पंच बसे परमात्मा, खाला लिए बुलाय।शेखा जुम्मन देखते, अलगू करते न्याय।

Read more about his work here