SanathanaDharma

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THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN MAHARASHTRA

A great religious upheaval swept through Maharashtra from the thirteenth century to the seventeenth. It was not the work of a single person or class, but of saints who sprang more often from the lower orders of society, such as tailors, gardeners, potters, goldsmiths, shopkeepers and even Mahars, than from Brahmins.

They struggled against the exclusive spirit of caste domination and asserted the dignity of the human soul as being independent of the accidents of birth and social rank. They emphasized that faith (Bhava) and devotional love (Bhakti) were superior to other forms of worship such as the performance of rites and ceremonies, self-mortification and fasts, penances and pilgrimages. They upheld the sanctity of family life against the traditions of celibacy and asceticism.

They addressed the people in their own native tongue, Marathi, and opened the hidden treasures of classical Sanskrit to all. When they came in contact with a militant religion like Mohammedanism, they faced their troubles and conquered them, not by fighting or resistance but by quiet resignation to the will of God. They recognized the essential identity of Ram and Rahim and worked for a reconciliation of religions through mutual trust and tolerance.

They considered neither knowledge nor yogic powers, health, wealth, children, possessions, not even Mukti (freedom from birth and death) as desirable in itself; what was desirable was to be always full of love of God and His works. They were emphatic in their assertion that they were able to see God and talk to Him. They had an intense realization of the presence of God in their heart, much more real than this world is to our senses.

MAHIPATI

Most of our information about these saints is derived from the poet Mahipati (1715-1790) whose major works were: ‘Santa Lilamrita’(1757), ‘Bhakta Vijaya’(1762), ‘Katha Saramrita"(1765), ‘Bhakta Lilamrita’(1774) and ‘Santa Vijaya’(1774).

Mahipati was a Rigvedi Deshastha Brahmin employed as the hereditary Kulkarni (accountant) of Taharabad, a small village about 60 kms from Ahmednagar. It was part f the jahagir of a Mohammedan nobleman to whom he was responsible for the collection of the revenue. One day, when he was engaged in worship and prayer, a messenger came to summon him to court on business. Mahipati said that he would attend on his master as soon as he had finished his worship. But the messenger would not listen to it; he spoke to him very harshly and said that he was going to take him to the court at once.

As there was no help for it, Mahipati left his prayers and taking his bundle of papers, went to the court with the messenger. Feeling humiliated by this incident, he returned home after finishing his work. Taking his pen from behind his ear, he laid it before the image of vithal and vowed never to use it again in any official capacity. He resigned the office of village accountant and resolved to spend the remaining years of his life in the service of God. He now devoted himself solely to religion.

One night Tukaram appeared to him in a dream and inspired him to write the biographies of the saints, in order to save the world. He painstakingly collected the facts and composed the lives of the Maratha saints in simple and charming verses.

Mahipati has faithfully recorded the traditions, only writing out in full the abbreviated or condensed facts at his disposal, like ‘expanding a seed into a tree’. Legends and miracles are so inextricably blended in the stories of these saints that a historian, striving to sift fact from fiction, has to be gifted like the mythical swan that can separate milk from the water with which it is diluted and drink only the milk, leaving the water behind. The saints cannot be accused of miracle-mongering. Samarth Ramdas said that miracles do not constitute spirituality and such stories are not a true indication of spiritual greatness which lies only in the knowledge of the self (Atma-jnana). Referring to the myth of Changdev and Dhyaneshwar, the former riding a tiger with a serpent in his hand and the latter making a stone wall move through the air like a animate object, he said, "vainly do people believe in everything that they hear. They throw away jewels and gather cow-dung cakes. Who can help these men if they wander like cattle?" According to Mr. Justice Ranade, "the moral interest of these biographies centers not in their miraculous feats, but in their (saints’) struggles, and in the testimony their lives afforded in vindication of the eternal verities of the moral law and man’s higher spiritual life."

SRI VITHAL OF PANDHARPUR

Most of these saints belonged to the Sampradaya (sect) of Vithala, with its spiritual center at pandharpur, a town on the banks of the Bhima river in the Solapur district of Maharashtra. The Sanskrit name Vishnu has become Vithu in the Kannada and Marathi languages, and the suffixes ‘ba’ and ‘la’ have been appended to the name of ‘Vithu’ to indicate tenderness and reverence.

Another name of the deity is Panduranga (white-complexioned one), which is an epithet of Siva. There is a temple of Siva in the town, which is also known as Pandurangapura; and pilgrims have to visit it before going to the temple of Vithoba. But when Vithoba’s importance increased in later times so vastly that Siva was entirely thrown into the shade, Panduranga became identical with Vithoba.

PUNDALIK

Another name for Pandharpur is ‘Paundarikakshetra’ or ‘Pandhari’ which owes it s origin to Pundalik who is believed to have been the founder of the cult of Vithoba in the Maratha country.

Legend says that Pundalik was an ungrateful son in his early life. Unable to bear his ill-treatment, his parents joined a band of pilgrims on their way to Banaras. When their daughter-in-law heard of it, she insisted on going with them. Pundalik and his wife rode on horseback, while they went on foot. In the evening the poor old parents were forced to groom the two horses.

One night, the pilgrims stopped at the hermitage of a great sage named Kukutaswami. Wearied with the day’s march, all fell asleep, except Pundalik. As le lay awake, he saw a group of beautiful women clad in soiled clothes enter the hermitage. They swept the floor, fetched water and washed the sage’s clothes. Their work done, they had darshan of the sage; and, when they came out, their raiment was spotless, clean and white.

Pundalik threw himself at their feet and asked them who they were. They replied that they were the river goddesses, Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati, in whose waters thousands of people bathed. Their clothes became soiled because of the pilgrims’ sins, but they purified themselves by serving Kukutaswami, when their garments became snow-white as before. They considered Pundalik the worst sinner of them all because of his ingratitude to his parents.

On hearing this, Pundalik felt deeply troubled at heart. He was filled with remorse and repented for his negligence. He implored the forgiveness of his parents and persuaded them to return home. He became a completely changed man and spent all his time in their service.

The rishi Narad, in his wanderings in the holy Mandesh country, came to the dense forest of Dandakaranya on the bank of the Chandrabhaga (Bhima) river, and there he observed the remarkable devotion of Pundalik to his parents. He reported about it to Sri Krishna who came down from Vaikunth (heaven) to greet Pundalik; but even God’s arrival did not distract the latter from his duty. He did not even turn his head to look at Him, but tossed a brick (vit in Marathi) towards Him and asked Him to stand on it and wait for him till he finished his service to his parents. Sri Krishna placed His hands on His sides and stood motionless on the brick. He was soon joined by
Rukmini and all the host of Rishis. Seeing Pundalik’s spirit of Bhakti, the Lord of Heaven was pleased to remain at Pandharpur, making the town a second heaven. And there He stands to this day, with His hands on His sides and is worshipped as Vithoba (he who stands upon a brick).

THE VARKARIS

Lakhs of people, mostly Varkaris from Maharashtra and the neighboring states, gather at Pandharpur on the eleventh day of the waxing moon in June-July (Ashadha suddha Ekadashi) and in October-November (Kartik suddha Ekadashi). The Varkaris are a sect who worship Vishnu in the form of Vithal and Rukmini (Rakhumai). A guru initiates the disciple into the panth (cult) by giving him a mantra like ‘Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya’. The disciple has now to wear a garland of Tulsi beads and put marks of white clay (gopi-chandan) on his face and body. He takes a vow to give up "women and gold" and to do nothing that can be construed as a breach of saintly conduct. He goes on pilgrimage to Pandharpur every month or at least once in a year, and hence he is called a ‘Varkari" (kari means one who undertakes and vari means a periodical pilgrimage). The Varkaris come from all castes and classes. They follow the Advaita system of philosophy taught by Dyaneshwar. Though it teaches them to dissociate themselves mentally from the material world, it does not advise them to renounce the world. Hence they continue to live in society and pursue their professions like the rest of the people. They lead a simple life of God-consciousness and practice saintly virtues like tolerance and compassion. They form societies (mandalis) for spreading the love of God among the people through story-telling (hari-katha), singing devotional songs and preaching (bhajan and kirtan).

Walking groups (dindis) accompany the palanquins in which are placed the symbols or silver images of the feet (paduka) of the saints on their annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Trekking on foot from eight to twenty days, helping each other, singing together, chanting the names of God and the saints, "Vithoba, Rakhumai", "Dhyanoba, Tukaram", and camping together in a vast sea of humanity outside the gates of Pandharpur to be welcomed by its citizens all these have created a strong feeling of unity among the Marathi speaking people. In this large gathering of sants, mahants and vaishnavas, all ideas of ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and pride of family and caste are forgotten; people embrace one another and make prostrate Namaskars with love to all. The culture of Maharashtra has thus been kept alive through centuries and spread among all its social layers.

THE SAINT POETS

The role played by the saint-poets in building the temple of Maratha mysticism has been aptly described by Bahinabai in a famous abhang.

"The saints have shown their merciful favor. Dnyana-deva laid the foundation and erected the temple. His servant, Namdeva, built the wall surrounding it, Eknath, the disciple of Janardana, erected its pillar in the form of his commentary on the Bhagavata Purana. Tukaram became its pinnacle. Now, then, worship in this temple at your leisure. Says Bahini, ‘the flag about it flutters in the wind. I have clearly described this temple.

The saint-poets not only moulded the religious thought of Maharashtra but also prepared the way for the coming of Shivaji.