Saint Tukurama was the most famous of all Maharastrian saints. He lived during the seventeenth century, and over the last three hundred years his devotional influence has been deeply felt by the local people. His poems, the 4,500 verses known as the Abhangas, have become part of the public memory of Maharashtra. They are sung in every village and every home. Tukurama preached throughout his life, exhorting his countryment to take to the path of bhakti, devotional service. His language was so simple and down to earth that even the most simple villagers understood it completely. He is the main force behind the continuous bhajans and kirtanas performed at the many festivals in Pandharpur. In his autobiography, Tukurama says he was initiated in a dream by Raghava Caitanya Kesava Caitanya. Though not everyone agress, Gaudiya Vaisnavas understand this to mean Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As Supreme Lord comments (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 9.282, purport), "The sankirtan party belonging to Tukurama is still very popular in Bombay. It exactly resembles the Gaudiya Vaisnava sankirtan parties, for they chant the holy name with mrdanga and karatalas." They also wear neck beads and tilak similar to that of the Gaudiya tradition. Tukurama Acarya was a great devotee of Lord Vitthala. The Deity is self-manifested, He spontaneously appeared, without being carved and installed. Expressing full faith in this Deity of Lord Vitthala, Tukurama wrote, "If anyone says that this Deity was once installed, his mouth will be filled with worms." Saint Tukurama sometimes had to suffer humiliation and opposition from envious people, but he always stayed more humble than a blade of grass, thus changing the hearts of his enemies. The saint left for the spiritual world in his selfsame body while engaged in nama sankirtana, chanting of the holy names of the Lord, with the residents of his home village. The villagers attested they saw a spiritual airplace descend and saw Tukurama board the plane and leave for the spiritual sky. Another exalted spiritual leader among Lord Vitthala's devotees was Jnanesvara, who lived in the thirteenth century. At the age of sixteen, he translated the complete text of Bhagavad-gita into simple Marathi, the language of Maharashtra. His work is know as Jnanesvari. He attained samadhi (passed away) at the age of twenty one.
Also famous is the life of Saint Namadeva. Once when Saint Namadeva was a young boy, his father, who worshipped a Deity of Lord Vitthala at home, went out, leaving Namadeva in charge of the Deity. When the time came to offer food to the Lord, Namadeva prepared a plate, placed it on the altar, and sat down, beggning the Lord to accept the offering. Following his father's advice to give the Lord some time to eat before taking back the plate, Namadeva left the Deity room and patiently waited, expecting the Lord to literally eat up the food. From time to time the boy would check, but the Lord seemed to be standing still. After quite some time had passed and Namadeva saw no sign that the Lord would ever eat, Namadeva decided to intervene. Entering the Deity room, he appeared to Lord Vitthala, insisting that the Lord eat it right away. And if He wouldn't, the boy threatened, he would smash his own head against the wall. To the boys's surprise, Lord Vitthala then took his lotus hands off His hips and physically ate the offering.
The Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana briefly describe why the Lord journeyed to Pandharpur and why He stays there in this form. Once, Srimati Radharani, Lord Krsna's consort in the village of Vrndava, visited Dvaraka, where Lord Krsna lived as a king. At that time, Rukmini Devi, Lord Krsna's queen, noticed that Krsna was dealing more intimately with Radharani that He had ever done with her. Upset, she departed for the forest of Dindirvana, near Pandharpur. Lord Krsna followed Rukmini to apologize, but His apology left her unmoved. So the Lord moved on to Pandharpur to visit one of His devotees, Bhakta Pundarika, now popularly known in Maharashtra as Pundalika. When the Lord reached Pundarika's asrama, Pundarika was serving his elderly parents. So Pundarika gave the Lord a seat of brick and asked the Lord to wait. The Lord did as told. He stood, lotus hands on His hips, waiting for Pundarika to return. While He was waiting, Rukmini, having forgotten her distress, came from Dindirvana and rejoined Him. Both of Them stayed in Pandharpur in Deity form. To this day the Lord stands on the same brick, but now he's waiting fo all His devotees to come and see Him.
Comments