During the medieval era Rajasthani Literature show the trend of some secular poets. The secular poets of Rajasthan were not associated with any kinds of traditional religion and any sampradays. There were some poets who wrote poems which could be considered as secular poems. Pipa is one such poet.
The various stray verses of Pipa are available in various manuscripts of different traditions. The earliest one so far available is dated 1625 in which 17 of his padas were written. The padas sing of Nirgun Lord Rama bhakti, exaltation of God, deep devotion to find Him within oneself with glimpses of yog sadhana, and futility of external practices like pilgrimage. In two padas, he has highly praised Namdev, Kabir and Raidas for their Bhakti. The language is Rajasthani mixed with Braj, with a slight tinge of Khadi Boli in a few padas.
Kazi Mahmud is one of the early saint poets whose padas are still popular in Rajasthan. The padas, about 45 in number, are scattered in different manuscripts. In the earliest available manuscript dated 1625, 16 of his padas are found. In 1525, Sahaj Sundar, a Jain poet composed a `dhal` based on the tune of one of Kazi Mahmud`s padas, the refrain of which runs as, Bhula bhamarla kain bhamai. It is evident that his padas were very popular during the early 16th century. They are on vairagya, transience of life and worldly objects, love and virah of God and mystic experiences. Natural, sensitive, and lucid expression depicting depth of emotion and universal truth is the hallmark of his poems. The language is easy Rajasthani with a slight tinge of Khadi Boli.
Mira Bai is a household name throughout the country. Yet her life and work have been an enigma to the scholars. Many legends and anecdotes have grown around her name, her guru and her sadhana. Mira`s popularity rests on her padas which have had a far-reaching effect on the life of the common people. So natural and spontaneous is the expression of her emotions and feelings that her padas came to be adapted in Gujarati, Braj and many colloquial speeches, with the result that it has become difficult to determine their original form.
Mira`s padas reveal deep devotion, Sagun and Nirgun bhakti of Kanta Bhav, yog, and reflect the state of her sadhana, and life. Self-confidence, unbounded faith in the Lord, love, whether in the state of sanyog (fusion) or viyog (separation), profound and sublime passion, expression of joy, sorrow and trance-all in simple, natural, inimitable and unadorned manner-are the characteristics of her padas. She has revealed the deepest emotions of her heart with spontaneous lucidity in the simplest language.
The poems of Din Darves, a secular poet of the medieval era deal with a variety of subjects, including the Brahma-gyan and contemplation, futility of worldly pursuit, falsity of caste and community, yog, vairagya, devotion to God, and record his mystic experiences. His inclination is more towards the Nirgun bhakti. He not only believes in the Incarnations, but also has no patience with those who speak ill of them. The Incarnations, according to him, were for the deliverance of bhaktas. His songs describe a few Wars of Lord Krishna. The garabi is in praise of Devi. Of his metres, the kundaliyas are popular. His language is Rajasthani mixed with Khadi Boli, with a slight tinge of Braj.
Gawari Bai is said to have to have composed over 600 padas in easy Rajasthani mixed with Braj and Gujarati. They are on exaltation of God, gyan, bhakti and vairagya. Many padas are popular for their simplicity and absorption.
Thus, the poems composed by the secular poets have a simple approach and are free from heavy religious intonations.
