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 the most characteristic feature of this department of Marathi literature. Only six poets out of the list given busied themselves With drawing their inspiration from the ancient puranic or itihasa literature in sanskrit. The writings of the other posts were in one sense a continued protest against the old spirit. ''Many of the poets and saints were ignorant of the Sanskrit language and did not care to conceal their utter disregard of the old ideals. They did not write for the Pandits but for the masses of the People; and there is more true poetry in many of their compositions them will be found in some of the more reputed and scholarly Brahman poets''. We need only refer to Namadeva, Tukarama, Ekanatha, Ramadasa, Mahipati, Mukundaraja, Mirabai, Janabai, Ramajoshi, Niloba, Prabhakara, Ranganathaswami and others. They were essentially modern poets, representative of modern spirit as it was developed in the three reformation centuries, commencing with the dawn of modern India and the rise of the Maratha power. The Writers of the Powdas and of the Lavanis had certainly nothing of the sanskrit element in their compositions." In his history of the "Rise of the Maratha Power" the same Writer informs us that among the religious teachers of Maharashtra there were not only Brahmans of liberal views but also men of other castes such as Maharathas, Kunbis, tailors, gardeners, potters,