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According to Mahipati, a hagiographer of the 18th century, Namdev's parents were Damashet and Gonai, a childless elderly couple whose prayers for parenthood were answered and involved him being found floating down a river. As with various other details of his life, elements such as this may have been invented to sidestep issues that might have caused controversy. In this instance, the potential controversy was that of caste or, more specifically, his position in the Hindu varna system of ritual ranking. He was born into what is generally recognised as a Vaishyacaste, variously recorded as shimpi in the Marathi language and as Chhipa, Chhimpa, Chhimba, chimpi (calico-printer) in northern India. His followers in Maharashtra and northern India who are from those communities prefer to consider their place, and thus his, as Kshatriya(Precisely as Rajputs and Marathas).[12][13]