Shri Ram Vijaya is a popular devotional literature composed by Shridhar Swami Nazarekar (1658-1729) in Marathi. [1] It literally means 'Victory to Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu'. [2]
The "Shri Ramavijaya" is divided into 40 chapters("adhyaya" in Marathi) and is composed of 9147 couplets ("ovis" in Marathi). [3] [4] In 1891, the "Shri Ramvijaya" was retold in the English language and published by Dubhashi&Co, Bombay. [5]
Until the early 20th century, it was common to recite the Ramvijaya in a gathering of women in middle class Marathi speaking families. [6]
He mentions Harivijay (Victory to God Hari [Shiva]), Ramavijay (Victory to Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu), Shivlilamrit (The Nectar of Shiva's Play), and Laghu-Guru-Charitra (The Story of Guru [the God Dattatreya]). These collections of legends about gods and supernatural figures are typical of traditional Marathi vernacular literature. The first three are by Shridhar (1678- 1728), the most prolific of marathi poets.