Manik Prabhu

Manik Prabhu
A painting of Manik Prabhu
Personal life
Born
Manik Prabhu

(1817-12-22)22 December 1817
Ladwanti, Basavakalyan
Died29 November 1865(1865-11-29) (aged 47)
Resting placeManik Nagar
NationalityIndian
Parents
  • Manohar Naik (father)
  • Baya Devi (mother)
Religious life
ReligionHinduism
Founder ofSakalamata Sampradaya
PhilosophyAdvaita Vedanta
SectSakalamata Sampradaya, Datta Sampradaya

Manik Prabhu Maharaj pronunciationwas an Indian Hindu saint, freedom fighter, philosopher, poet and guru. He is also regarded as an incarnation of Dattatreya by the people of Datta Sampraday. Prabhu's philosophy, the Sakala mata Siddhanta rests on the principles of Advaita Vedanta as propagated by Adi Sankara. Shri Prabhu strongly advocated the essential oneness of all religions. Prabhu's Muslim devotees revered him as an incarnation of Mehboob Subhani whereas his Lingayat devotees saw him as a form of Basavanna. Shri Prabhu composed numerous bhajans and padas in various languages such as Marathi, Kannada, Hindi, Urdu and Sanskrit. Shri Prabhu was also associated with the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. Shri Sai Baba of Shirdi, Shri Swami Samarth of Akkalkot, Shri Bramhachaitanya of Gondavale and many other contemporary saints are believed to have visited Maniknagar to interact with Prabhu on matters of deep spiritual wisdom. Biographers refer to Shri Prabhu as a saint of great spirituality and mysticism. Shri Prabhu's teachings emphasize the path of Bhakti. He also moralized on the vedantic truths concerning the spiritual unity of beings. Manik Nagar, Humnabad, Bidar District is the place where he took sanjeevani samadhi. Shri Prabhu's samadhi at Maniknagar is the nucleus of Manik Nagar and acts as the spiritual center of the activities of Shri Manik Prabhu Samsthan.