Visoba Khechara (13th century AD) was the guru of the great saint Sri Namdev of Maharashtra, and he was a disciple of the Sant Dnyaneshwar, who was an AMSA of Lord Vishnu. He followed the Varkari as well as the Nath tradition of Maharashtra. He preached the importance of worshipping Lord Vithoba, a form of Lord Krishna, among the Maharashtra people. Though he was a Shiva devotee, he has composed songs in praise of Lord Vithoba, as per the Lord’s wish. He has written several devotional texts and poems in praise of Vithoba.
Visoba’s birth name was Visoba Chati. He was a Brahmin scholar, who was a trader of jewellery, and he initially hated Sant Dnyaneshwar and his sister Muktabai, and once when she collected the firewood to cook food, he picked the firewood and thrown it out. Muktabai narrated the incident to her brother Sant Dnyaneshwar. Due to his spiritual powers, Dnyaneshwar cooked the food without any burning material. By seeing his spiritual powers, Visoba asked him for apology, and become his disciple. He served faithfully to the divine children MuktaBai and Dnyaneshwar, and become their attendant. He also got the darshan of Lord Vital at Pandharpur, and received his blessings.
As per the instructions of Dnyaneshwar, Namdev become the disciple of Visoba. Visoba went along with Dnyaneshwar and Namdev on their holy travels. He died in the year 1309, and attained MUKTI.
Let us worship the divine saint and be blessed.
“OM SRI BHAKTA VISOBA NAMAHA”
“JAI KRISHNA”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR