Pandharpur Vitthala
Some of the staunch devotees of Lord Panduranga are as follows:-
1.EKNATH
Eknath (1533–1599) was a great saint, Panduranga devotee and Marathi poet. He was born in a village at Uttarakhand.
He was born to a Brahmin family. And since his parents were died at his younger age, he was brought up by his grandfather. He was the disciple of the learned scholar Sri Janardhan Swami.
He was well known for his spirituality and for safeguarding the Sanatana Dharma. He was talented in hindu scriptures and a master in all forms of art and a great scholar.
Eknath has re-written the Ramayana in his own style which is called as Bhavarth Ramayan. He has written the epic in a simplified form, in order to understand it even by the common people.
He was the author of Eknathi Bhagavata which features the childhood miracles performed by Lord Krishna, and describes the kindness shown by Lord Krishna towards his devotees.
2.DNYANESHWAR
Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296) was a Marathi saint, Panduranga devotee and a poet of the Vaishnava tradition. He was the author of Dnyaneshwari (a detailed explanation on the contents of Bhagavad Gita) and also written a sacred text known as Amrutanubhav, which was widely praised by the Marathi people for its simplicity. He was regarded as the best poet during his time by the great kings and by the common people.
Dnyaneshwar was born in a Brahmin family in a village at Maharashtra. His father has served as an Accountant in his village. His parents were died at his younger age, and Dhyaneshwar and his brothers and sister Muktabai become saints.
He was the close associate of Saint Namdev and together they formed the bhakti movement, and spread the spirituality among the people, and they visited many sacred places and worshipped the gods.
Dnyaneshwar was the disciple of his own brother Nivruttinath. His samadhi lies in the Siddhesvara Temple complex in Alandi. Many people are visiting his place and getting benefitted by worshipping him.
3.MUKTABAI
Muktabai(1279-1297) was a popular saint and a devotee of Lord Vittal, also known as Panduranga and Vithoba, is a form of Lord Krishna. She was born at Alandi, Pune in a Brahmin family. She was the younger sister of the great saint Dnyaneshwar. Her parents were died at her younger age.
Muktabai became the student of his elder brother Nivruttinath and she learnt the Vedas, the Upanishads and other sacred Hindu texts and mastered in yoga and meditation.
4.SAVATA MALI
Savata Mali was a Hindu saint and an ardent devotee of Lord Vithoba. He was born in 1250 in a village near pandharpur. He was a friend and an admirer of Namdev, a devotee of Vithoba.
At his younger age itself, Savata has got married to a pious and a holy lady from a nearby village named Janabai, who is also a great devotee of Lord Vithoba. Savata Mali has got sufficient agricultural lands. Even while working in his fields he will used to sing about the glory of Lord Vithoba. It is believed that Savata Mali and his wife Janabai had got the darshan of Lord Vithoba in their house. A temple is also dedicated to him in his native place.
5.GORA KUMBHAR
Gora Kumbhar (1267-1317) was a Hindu saint of Maharashtra. He was a potter and a great devotee of Lord Vittal (Manifestation of Lord Krishna).
Gora Kumbhar had written and sung several songs in praise of Lord Vittal.
Gora Kumbhar was lived in a village in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra State. He is believed to have been a close friend of Saint Namdev.
He lived with his wife and his child in his village by doing his pottery work, and also by devoting on Lord Vittal.
Once due to his great devotion on Lord Vittal, he began singing and dancing with joyful tears showering from his eyes. He forgot everything and was fully devoted to Lord Krishna. At that time, his child crawls near him, and without his attention on his child, he pressed his child with his legs, and his child got crushed from his legs and died.
After knowing the incident, he felt very bad, and prayed to Lord Vittal at Pandharpur along with his wife. To his surprise, his child was brought back alive due to the divine grace of Lord Vithal and he and his wife were very happy about the miraculous incident, and thanked to the god for saving their child.
6.SENA NHAVI
Sena Nhavi is a famous saint of the Varkari sect and is a great devotee of Lord Vithoba, a form of Lord Krishna.
Sena worked as a barbar under the king of Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh. After some time, he left his job, and started writing poems and singing the glories of Lord Vithoba.
In the famous text, Bhaktavijaya written by Mahipati during the 18th century, Sena Nhavi was mentioned as an ardent devotee of Lord Vithoba, and dedicated his entire life on praising him. And he, further mentioned about the greatness of Lord Vithoba rescuing him during his difficult situations. It is believed that due to his previous birth sins, he was born in a lower caste. Once, the Muslim king of the region called him for doing service to him through a messenger. Since, Sena was worshipping the god, he hesitated to go, and through his wife, he informed to the messenger of the king, that he was not available at his home. The king has become very angry and decided to punish him. Then Lord Vithoba took the form of Sena and massaged the king with the oil. The king suddenly saw the reflection of the image of Lord Krishna, in the oil cup, and was very much surprised, and praised and rewarded him a bagful of gold coins. Lord Vithoba in the form of Sena, placed the gold coin bag in the house of Sena and disappeared.
The next day, when Sena arrived at the court, the king has asked to again show him the image of Lord Krishna. This act of the king made Sena to get surprised and explained to the king that he had got the divine darshan of Lord Vithoba himself. He further explained to him, that Lord Vithoba had taken his form, and visited the palace and massaged him. Due to that, the king respected him and treated kindly. Sena distributed the gold coins to the poor and the Brahmin scholars, which was kept by Vithoba at his home. And he immediately left his profession, and become a full time devotee of Lord Vithoba and lived his life in a saintly manner, by writing divine poems on Lord Vithoba and singing his glories in his melodious and mesmerising voice. The Muslim king has become a staunch devotee of Lord Vithoba, and lived in a pious manner.
He was praised by the great saints and Vithoba devotees Janabai, Tukaram and Ravidas.
A temple known as “SHRI SANT SENA HARI MANDIR” is dedicated to him in Hubli.
7.BHAKTA TUKARAM
Tukaram, also known as Sant Tukaram, Bhakta Tukaram, Tukaram Maharaj was a 17th-century Hindu poet and saint in Maharashtra, India. Tukaram is best known for his devotional poems and specialized in writing and singing spiritual songs known as kirtans. His poetry was devoted to Vitthala or Vithoba, an avatar of Hindu god Vishnu.
He was born in the year 1608 in a village in Maharashtra, India. Tukaram was born in lower caste. His parents were devotees of Vithoba(A form of Lord Krishna).
Even after getting married, he spent most of his time in devotional worship. It is believed that he left from this world and went to Vaikunda through garuda vahana in 1650.
8.BHAKTA KURMADAS
Sri Kurmadas was born in a village at Maharashtra. He was born without having limbs in his hands and legs. Since from his childhood, he was an ardent devotee of Lord Vital. Once he got an opportunity to listen to the discourse on Lord Vital and was very much interested to reach the holy place, and to worship his beloved Pandurangan. He expressed his desire to the villagers, but they felt that it would be very difficult for him to reach Pandharpur, since he was a handicap person, and also pandharpur was far away from their village. But somehow he managed to go to Pandhari and started rolling over the roads, and due to that his body was fully wounded.
He then met a rich man, who gave proper food, and took along with him to Pandharpur. They reached a village called Bahula. By then, his body was totally wounded. He was unable to move from that place.
He then stayed back at Bahula and shared his worries to the rich man, and he was depressed very much towards the difficulty which he faces in reaching Pandharpur. Immediately Lord Krishna revealed his true form and gave his darshan, and gently touched his body through his lotus hands, and immediately his handicap has been removed from his body and he has become a healthier person.
Kurmadas was very much delighted, and ask the Lord to stay in the village Bahula itself, and to bless his devotees. Immediately the Lord has been changed in the form of Idol, and a small shrine has been constructed in that place. Even today, Bahula is considered equivalent to Pandharpur.
9. BHAKTA SAMVATA
Samvata is a Varkari saint, who lived in a village in Maharashtra before few hundred years. He was a sincere devotee of Lord Vital, a form of Lord Krishna, and used to compose and sing songs on him. He lived his life by cultivating crops in his agricultural lands, and with his meagre income, he would offer food to the poor people. He was devoted with Lord Vital from his younger age itself, and even after getting married, he concentrated his entire attention on Lord Vital. His wife was a chaste and pious woman, who used to help her husband in his daily activities. She also would attend bhajans along with her husband in the vital temple, and sing his glories.
The couples used to visit Lord Vital at Pandharpur once in a year. They would go to Pandharpur by walk, and they didn’t get any difficulty in travelling such a long distance. During their travel, they would have their food in the annadana choultries, and get relaxed themselves in the guest houses. In course of time, due to their old age, they were unable to visit Pandharpur to offer their prayers to Lord Vital, and hence they felt very much worried and prayed to Lord Vital, for their situation. One day night, Lord Vital had appeared in their dream, and asked them to worship the idol of Vital from their home itself, and that would be equivalent to worshipping him in Pandharpur and disappeared. The couples got very happy, and installed a Panduranga deity at their home, and began to worship him by performing pujas, abhishekhams and offering various food items as holy Prasad to him. After their death, due to their sincere bhakti, and due to the grace of Lord Vital, they attained SALVATION.
10.BHAKTA JOGA
Joga was born in Barsi in Sholapur. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Vital from his childhood, and spent hours together in the temple by chanting his glorious names, and used to circumambulate the panduranga temple for several times. He also visited several holy saints and got their immense blessings. He was an oil merchant.
At his teenage, he has lost interest in living in this world, and he doesn’t find any use in living in a normal manner, and doing the routine things in his life. Due to that he used to worship Panduranga, and speak to him, and tell his worries. Panduranga would appear in his dream, and used to tell him to have bhakti with him throughout in his life, in order to attain SALVATION after his death. He also followed the advice of Panduranga, and remained a staunch devotee till the end of his life, and attained SALVATION after his death.
11. BHAKTA DAYARAM
Dayaram (1777–1853) was a Gujarati poet and he was well known in Gujarati literature and he was a strict follower of Vaishnavism. Similar to the great Vittal devotees, Narsi Mehta, Thukaram and Meera, he is considered as a main person in the Krishna Bhakti movement in Gujarat.
Dayaram was born in the year 1777 in Chanod, Gujarat on the banks of the Holy Narmada River in a pious Gujarati Brahmin family. Though he has not completed his school education, he was interested in singing devotional songs on Lord Krishna in the Vishnu temples. Due to the death of his parents, he lived with his relatives in a village at Gujarat. At his teenage, he began to travel throughout India, and visited many Hindu religious places, and worshipped the deities. His guru was Ichchharam Bhatt and he learnt the divine subjects from him.
He has become a saint by Vallabhaji Maharaj and was fully initiated in the Bhakti path. His style of poems differentiates from other poems, and he used to write very simple and easily readable poems.
Dayaram was a devotional poet in Gujarat. Apart from writing poems and singing devotional songs on Lord Krishna, he used to perform religious discourses on Bhagavatham and Vishnu Purana in the temples, and shared his spiritual knowledge with others. Due to his sincere bhakti, once Lord Krishna gave his darshan, and blessed him.
He lived a simple and a saintly life, and after his death, it is believed that he has attained SALVATION through the grace of Lord Krishna.
12. BHAKTA BHAGU
Bhagu was a female Varkari Saint and a great poet. Though she belonged to the Mahar caste, she got good knowledge in penning bhakti poems on Lord Vittal, a form of Lord Krishna. She was born in a village in Maharashtra, in a lower caste, to a pious Hindu couple. Her father was a potter, and he earned his income by making and selling clay pots. With the meagre income of her father, the family lived happily.
She was married at her young age, but soon her husband had sent her to her home town, due to the unlimited bhakti shown by her on Lord Vittal. But young Bhagu, didn’t get upset, but she left her home, and joined in a troupe who were on their way to Pandharpur. As soon as she reached the temple of Pandharpur, she felt very happy, and began to sing melodious songs on Lord Vittal. After knowing about her selfless devotion on Lord Vittal, the temple authorities have provided her a shelter and also asked her to make flower garlands for the Lord. She happily accepted the offer, and began to stay in the hut and also done the divine service of making flower garlands.
In order to test her bhakti, one day, Lord Vittal had appeared in the form of a small boy, and gave a golden necklace to her, and disappeared from that place. Bhagu was surprised with the act of the small boy, and she went to the temple priest and offered the necklace to him, in order to adorn it to Lord Vittal. At that time, one of the jewels of Lord Vittal was went missing, and when the temple priest saw the necklace in the hands of Bhagu, he realised that the necklace is belonged to Lord Vittal, and mistakenly he thought that the ornament was stolen by her, and he tied her in the pillar of the temple, and reported to the king of Pandharpur about the theft.
The king went inside the temple, and he decided to hang her, without getting any explanation from her side. When the hang man hanged her in a rope, suddenly Lord Vittal appeared in that place, and he began to lift Bhagu in his hands, he saved her life, and gave his divine vision to everybody in the temple. The Lord had narrated the entire incident to everybody in the temple with his sweet voice, and disappeared from that place. The king had realized his mistake, and asked Ma Bhagu to apologise him, and he provided a proper house and also provided all sorts of facilities to her. She lived her life by keeping the divine thoughts of Lord Vittal in her mind, and after her death, she has attained the lotus feet of Lord Vittal.
13. MEERA BAI
Meera, also known as Meera Bai or Mirabai (1498–1547) was a great poet and an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna.
Meera was born into a Rajput royal family in Rajasthan, India. Most legends mention her devotion to Lord Krishna, and she was hated by her in-laws for her religious devotion. Though Meera bai has written lot of poems in praise of Lord Krishna, only few of her poems were preserved. These poems are commonly known as bhajans.
According to ancient records, it is known that Meera unwillingly married Bhoj Raj, the crown prince of Mewar, in 1516. Her husband was died in 1521.
Due to the dislike of her bhakti with Lord Krishna, her in-laws tried to kill her several times by poisoning, but she was not harmed due to the grace of Lord Krishna.
Mira Bai left the kingdom of Mewar, and went on pilgrimages. In her last years, Meera lived in Dwarka or Vrindavan, where legends state she miraculously disappeared by merging into an idol of Krishna in 1547.
Daya bai (18th century AD) was born in a pious Hindu family at a village in Rajasthan. After hearing the stories of Lord Krishna from her mother, she was devoted to Lord Krishna at her childhood itself. She used to chant the names of Lord Krishna, and visit the nearby temples and perform bhajans and praise his glories and gave lectures on Bhagavatham and Bhagavat Gita. Due to her sincere devotion on the god, she didn’t marry, and dedicated her entire life towards worshipping Krishna.
After attaining teenage, she heard about Swami Charandas and become his disciple. Swami Charan das was a great devotee of Lord Krishna, and gave warm welcome to her at his ashram, and provided proper food, and shelter and looked after her like his own daughter.
In course of time, she become the successor of Charan das and began to spread the bhakti spirit among the people, and done lot of social welfare activities for the benefit of the poor people. She also written a sacred text known as “DAYABODH”, and she died in Bithoor, Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that after her death, she has reached the abode of Lord Vishnu, the Vaikunta.
14. BHAKTA GOMA BAI
Several centuries ago, there lived a pious and a noble lady in a village in Maharashtra. She was a sincere devotee of Lord Vital of Pandarpur. She lived her life, by cooking food at her home, and selling it to the local villagers. Once she was very much interested to visit the Lord at his temple, and she reached Pandarpur by walk, and she has to cross the holy river Chandrabhaga in order reach the Vital Rukmani Temple, and worship Lord Vital.
Since that time, she didn’t have money, so she has asked the boat man to freely drop her at the Temple, but he refused doing so, and demanded money. Finally she was frustrated and was praying to the Lord at the banks of the river, to take her to his temple and to get to have his divine darshan.
Suddenly, the boatman who was previously refused to take her for a free ride had accepted to take her to the temple without fee. The lady got delighted and joyful tears were fell down from her eyes, and went along with him and reached the temple.
After worshipping the Lord at the temple, she met the boatman again and thanked him for taking her in his boat for a free ride. The boat man was shocked and told to her, that he didn’t take her in his boat at all. Then the lady realized that the boat man who took her through the boat to the temple, was none other than her beloved Lord Vital and thanked him, and permanently stayed nearby the temple by singing songs on the lord, and ate the food given by the devotees of Lord Vital, and built a small hut for her nearby the temple, with the money given by the vital devotees and after her death, she has attained SALVATION through the grace of Lord Vital.
15. SAHAJO BAI
Sahajo Bai (1725-1805) was born in a pious Hindu family in a village at Delhi. She got married at a younger age, and her husband was died immediately after marrying her. Due to that, she had lost interest in family life, and preferred to become a saint and become a disciple of Saint Charandas, and concentrated her entire attention towards devoting on Lord Krishna, and forgets about everything in the world. She got great knowledge from her guru, and learnt all the divine scriptures. She died on 1805 in Vrindavan, and reached Vaikunta.
16. SAKHUBAI
Sakhubai was the daughter of a poor couple in Pandharpur. She was born a few hundred years ago in Pandharpur. Her parents were very humble and straight forward in nature. They were very sincere devotees of Lord Panduranga. They always worship him with pure bhakti in their mind.
She was fully involved in a deep sense of devotion to God. At a very young age itself, she started doing puja in her home, and assisted her mother towards the daily house hold activities like cooking and maintaining the house.
Sakhubai was a kind, and a good natured girl. Soon she was married to a rich man, who was a miser and treated her badly using harsh words.
She was ill-treated by her mother-in-law also, and was allowed to eat the left overs in their house.
One day she has asked permission to go to Pandarphar along with a group of devotees to her husband and her in laws. But she was not permitted to go, but instead she was beaten up badly by her husband. But Lord Krishna came to her house in her appearance and asked her to join with the troupe of devotees who are going to pandharpur.
She went to Pandharpur and had the darshan of Lord Vittal with much happiness and enjoyment. Lord Krishna, who was in the appearance of sakhubai, served her husband and her mother in law in a proper manner. And the Lord in the form of Sakhubai has done all the house hold chores properly similar to that of Sakhubai.
Finally, after knowing about all the incidents, her husband and her mother in law were realized about their mistakes, and were known about the greatness of Sakhubai and Lord Krishna.
The Lord blessed her entire family and they attained Moksha after their death.
17. SANT BANKA
Saint Banka (14th century) was a famous saint of Maharashtra. His wife was the great saint Nirmala, and his brother-in-law was Sri Chokhamela, who was also a great vital devotee. He was born in Mehenpuri into the lower class family, who were considered as Untouchables in those days. He was a great poet and wrote several songs on Lord Vital and also used to sing in praise of him. He dedicated his entire life, towards praying to Lord Vital, and lived a pious life.
In his song also, he expresses the difficulties being faced as an untouchable, which includes for not permitting him inside the Vital temple, and also avoiding him from participating in religious festivals, and treating him like a servant by the upper class people. He further expresses his true love on the Lord Vital, and says that according to the holy Vital Prabu, all the people created by him are equal, and the people born in lower class communities must be given all the rights similar to the higher class people.
In order to appreciate his true bhakti, Lord Vital himself appeared before him several times along with Ma Rukmani and blessed him. He also got a good health and a sound mind, due to the divine touch of the Lord. Through the grace of Lord Vital, he was able to write several songs on him, and lived a holistic life. Through his miraculous powers, Lot of Vital devotees were got relieved from their diseases, and also received the bhakti spirit from him. He along with Choka Mela conducted regular bhajans on Lord Vital at their homes, since they were not allowed to enter into the temples. After his death, similar to his brother-in-law Choka Mela, he has also attained SALVATION.
18. SANT BHANUDAS
Bhanudas (1448–1513) was a Hindu saint of Maharashtra, who was well known for bringing back the sacred idol of Lord Vithoba from Vijayanagar to Pandharpur. He was the great grandfather of Sant Eknath. At his younger age, he used to worship Lord Surya Bhagavan, and after he has seen the divine appearance of Lord Vithoba in his dream, he became his ardent devotee. He was mentioned in the Bhaktavijaya, written by the great Saint Sri Mahapathi. His Samadhi is situated near Vitthal temple at Pandharpur.
Similar to Sri Eknath, he was very much attracted with Lord Vitthal and sung lot of Bhakti songs on him. He is considered as a famous Varkari poet and saint of Maharashtra, similar to other Vittal devotees like Gorakumbhar, Chokamela, Sakkubai, Dyaneshwar and Narsi Mehta.
His songs would melt the hearts of the Vittal devotees, and was highly praised by the kings and also by the common man. He also received lot of wealth for his divine songs from the kings, but he utilized the money for building and renovating Hindu temples.
19. CHOKHAMELA
Chokhamela was a great saint in Maharashtra, India, and lived in the 14th century. He belonged to the Mahar caste. He was a great poet, and sung in praise of Lord Vitthala, and he was a great devotee of Lord Vitthala.
He was born at a village in Buldhana district,Maharashtra. He wrote many poems. He was one of the famous poets in India. Chokhamela lived with his family and worked in farms of wealthy people. He lived outside the town in a hut, but was fully devoted on Lord Vitthala. He never worried about his poverty, but lived the life peacefully, with his meagre earnings.
Once he got an opportunity to listen to Saint Namadev songs, and from then onwards, he became initiated into bhakti spirituality. Chokhamela followed Saint Namdev’s teachings.
Once, while doing a construction work, the wall fell down, and crushed Chokhamela and he died. His tomb is situated in front of the Vitthal temple, Pandharpur, and it is believed that the bones of the dead Chokhamela were still chanting the names of Lord Krishna as Vitthala, Vitthala, Panduranga Vitthala in order to visit the Vitthal temple. The bones were buried at the footsteps of the Vitthal temple.
20. KARMAMELA
Saint Karmamela (14th century) was a great saint from Maharashtra. He was the son of Chokhamela and Soyarabai and belonged to Mahar caste, and they were considered as untouchables and treated badly by the upper class people during those days. He was against caste discrimination. He deeply expresses in his songs, about his birth in lower class family, and the sufferings which he faces in his daily life. Karmamela was deeply attached with Lord Vital and concentrated his attention only on him. His songs are so divine, and it was praised even by the upper class people.
He will used to sing the glories of the Lord and dance with full of joy and forget about the entire things around him. He has got such a great bhakti on Lord Vital, which is very difficult to practice in this today’s modern era of lifestyle.
21. SANT SOYARABAI
Soyarabai was a saint from the Mahar caste in 14th century Maharashtra, India. She was the wife and disciple of her husband the great “Chokhamela”. Soyarabai had written many poems and used to sing songs on Lord Vittal. She was a pure and a pious woman who had dedicated his entire life towards worshipping Lord Vittal along with his husband Chokhamela.
She was against caste discrimination, and she was worried about the caste differences which was prevalent all over india, during that period. Soyarabai will used to go for an annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur along with her husband. She was a great saint and also a dutiful wife, who always took care of her husband “CHOKHAMELA” in a proper manner. She acts as an example for others. Similar to her husband, she has also reached the divine place after her death.
“OM SRI PANDURANGAYA NAMAHA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR