Mahipati is the biographer of the poet saints of India. Mahipati was born in the little village of Tharabad in the Ahmednagar district, in the year 1715, and died in the year 1790. He was a Deshastha Brahman by birth, he was employed as the town-scribe of Tharabad. The story told of him is that, one day he was summoned by an official of the town to come at once. When the messenger arrived he was sitting performing the worship of God. He replied to the messenger that he was busy with his worship and could not come now, but would come later. The messenger however, would not take "NO" for an answer and insisted that he should come with him. Finally agreed to go, but mentally resolved to give up his secular employment and devote himself wholly to the religious life. He went with the messenger, performed his duty, and returned vowing never again to use his pen in secular employment. He resigned from his office and devoted himself solely to religion. Ahmednagar is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India, on the left bank of the Sina river, about 100 km southeast of Pune. ...

He then began to write the stories connected with the lives of the bhaktas (those who with love and devotion worshipped God) who were known in Maharashtra (the great nation, meaning the Marathi country included in the Bombay Presidency). Mahipati's guru was Tukaram from whom he received the mystic mantra in a dream. It is said Tukaram at the same time commanded Mahipati to write the lives of saints. He evidently began at once to accumulate the books told of the lives of those saints and created one of the most fascinating of religious story-books in Marathi language by the title of Bhaktavijaya is meant Triumphs of the Saints.Mahipati's masterpiece has thoroughly succeeded in investing with the true bhakti (devotional) spirit the daily life of rich and poor,among the Marathi-speaking people. Had Mahipati used a linguistic medium more widely known than Marathi, he would have ranked high among the world's poet. An English translation of Mahipati's Bhaktavijya is published under the provisions of the last will and testament of the late Dr Justin E.Abbott who died at Summit, New Jersey, Unites states.