Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

They are.

Like I would like to give an example of Shivaji Maharaj for that matter.

We all know him.

We all know what he was capable of, what all he has done.

It did not matter which deity you worshipped so long as you remained a Hindu.

The political unity which Shivaji only partially succeeded in making was preceded by social and religious solidarity.

The Reformation movement in Europe, with which this movement is incorrectly compared, started long after the last crusade with the Turk was fought.

But here in Maharashtra, the movement as it synchronized with the rule of the Muslim was essentially national, though inevitably disguised as religious.

And as time passed on, as the political awakening became more and more pronounced, the religious leaders also became more and more national, until at last in Ram Dass we see the patriot saint whose political fervor was equaled only by his religious faith.

It is true that Tukaram never plunged into the flood, but only contented himself with standing on the bank of the national awakening.

But even he, so indifferent to worldly matters, blessed the movement, and when Shivaji approached him in the spirit of a disciple, asked him to seek the aid of Saint Ram Dass as the fittest man to guide.

When these points are remembered, the reader will see why the movement assumed this synthetical form, why the Brahmin still continued to monopolize his priest-craft.

We read that Sri Rama, in the Ramayana, we see that he worshiped Mother Durga before he went for the killing of Ravana.

Shivaji, the great Maratha king, was a devotee of the Divine Mother as Bhavani.

And Guru Govind Singh, the 10th guru of the Sikhs, is also said to have been a worshiper [coughing] of Mother Durga.

Now, although Divine Mother is only one, just as God is one, the m- manifestations are many.