  thumb|samarth ramdas  ramdas (marathi:à¤¸à¤®à¤°à¥à¤¥ à¤°à¤¾à¤®à¤¦à¤¾à¤¸ à¤¸à¥à¤µà¤¾à¤®à¥) was a noted 17th century saint and spiritual poet of maharashtra. he was the guru of chatrapati shivaji maharaj. he is most remembered for his advaita vedanta (non-dualism) text dasbodh. samarth ramdas was a devotee of lord hanuman and lord rama. ==early life and background==  the birth name of samartha ramdas swami was narayan suryaji thosar. he was born on ramnavmi (in the month of 'chaitra') in the year â 1530 (shalivahana era), 1608 ce, in the jamb village, ambad taluka of jalna district, on the banks of the river godavari. his parents were suryaji pant and ranubai and his elder brother was gangadhar. his family, for many generations, were worshipers of surya (sun) and lord ram. during childhood narayan was fond of all games that involved vigorous physical activity. he loved to exercise and he was well built. he was very intelligent too. he was a very firm believer of god and stood by his moral principles. his whole persona shone with devotion for hanuman and lord ram. having devotion and strength of character, he felt compassion for the common people who were stuck in the eternal cycle of life and death. right from his childhood he was thinking about how to relieve masses from this cycle. marriage and settling down with his own family was not his priority. he preferred the life of a monk. ==residences==  ramdas moved around quite a lot, and in the process, used several ghal (), which are small caves used for meditation. the famous ones include: "diamond maharashtra sankritikosh ()," durga dixit, pune, india, diamond publications, 2009, isbn 978-81-8483-080-4. * ramghal, on sajjangad * morghal, at morbag village near sajjangad * tondoshi ghal, north of chaphal * taakli, near nashik * chandragiri, opposite vasantgad, near karad * helwak, near helwak village * shiganwadi, near chandragiri *shivthar ghal, near mahad ==spiritual development== [[file:hanuman file new.jpg|t
1608_births 1681_deaths Hindu_saints Hindu_writers Inchegeri_Sampradaya Marathi-language_writers Marathi_poets Sant_Mat