Tales of the Saints of Pandharpur
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TALES OF THE SAINTS OF PANDHARPUR BY C. A. KINCAID, C.V.O. Author of " A History of the Maratha People", "Ishtur Phakde". "The Indian Heroes"# "Tales from the Indian Epics" ... The Tale of the Tulsi Plant". "Deccan Nursery Tales", etc-I etc. HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS BOMBAY AND MADRAS 1919 To My friend MR. W. C. SHEPIlERD, I.e.s. in memory of twenty·fiv," yearb' unbroken and greatly valued trieudship. INTRODUCTION As the following talcs have all been translated from the Bbaktivijaya (Victory of devotion) of Mahipati, a sketch of that admirable poet's life will pot be out of place, especiaUy as it resembles in many particulars the life of one of bis own saints. Mahipati was the son of Dadopant a Rigvedi Deshastha Brahman, who was the hereditary kulkarni of Tarabad in the Ahmadnagar district. Dadopant was an ardent worship. perof Vithoba of Panc1harpur. Yet in spite of many pilgrim ages to the shrine of Vithoba, Dadopant and his wife remained childless. It was not until Dadopant was nearly sixty years of age that he became a father. The story runs that once when Dadopant had gone to l'andharpur on one of his pilgrimages, the god Vithoba appeared to him in a dream. The god put into his worshipper's hands a hall of sweetmeats and bade him give it to his wife, When Dadopant awoke, he found the baU of sweetmeats still in his hand. Dadopant carried the baU of sweetmeats home and ga\'e it to his wife; in less than a year she gave birth to a son (A.D. 1715). The parents of the little boy called him Mahipati. From his carliest chHdhood Mahipati shewed signs of a religious temperament; and he was only five years old when he begged leave from his father to join a company of pilgrims and go with them to Pandharpur. From that time to his father's death, which occurred when he was only sixteen, Mahipati made a yearly pilgrimage to the great shrine. Cpon his father's death he became in his place kulkarni of Tarabad. Not long afterwards he resigned Government service, because the Musulman jaghirdar nnder whom he was employed tried to force him to work, when he (Mahipati) wanted to say his prayers. Not only did he resign the kulkarniship, but he took a vow that not only he but his descendants would never take a post under Government again-a vow which, so it is said, his descendants still scrupulously observe. After resigning the kulkarniship, Mahipati devoted him self more than ever to the worship of Vitho ba. One night his devotion was rewarded. The pact saint Tukaram appeared to him in a dream and bade him write the lives of the Deccan saints. In obedience. to Tuk"Iam'S command Mahipati 4 began the Bhaktivijaya, finishing it in A.D. 1762 or 1763. The Bhaktivijaya is Mahipati's principal work. But he also wrote the Katha Saramrit, the Santlilamrit, the Bhaktlilamrit and the unfinished Santvijaya. Mahipati was a contemporary of Moropant the greatest of aU the Maratha poets and won the latter's profound admiration. Indeed had Mahipati used a lingui>tic medium more widely known than Marathi, he would have ranked high among the world's poets. Even a foreigner can appreciate the easy flow of his stanzas, his musical rhymes and above aU his unrivaJled imagery. Mahipati died in I790 A.D., leaving two sons, Vithoba and Narayanboa. Vithoba became a musician of some note at the court of Bajirao the Second and was the lifelong friend of Moropant. The saints of whom Mahipati wrote not only moulded the religious thought of the Maratha people, but, as Ranade pointed out, they also prepared the way for the coming of Shivaji. In our History of the Malatha People, we have adopted Ranade's view.' Readers of the History may there fore like to know more of the saints and of the miracles "Chich, according to popular tradition, they wrought. In my translation I have adhered as closdy as I could to the original; but in many places I have been forced to cut out imagery which, suitable enough in poetry, would seem weari some and exaggerated in prose. Even as it is, some of my readers may perhaps complain that I have retained too many of the poet's similes. My reply is that I felt bound as trans lator to retain as much of the original as I could. In conclusion I have to thank my friend Mr. Dyagude, Chief Karbhari of the Bhor State, for introducing me to Mahipati's work and for reading part of it with me. My thanks are also due to Mr, Mahableshwarkar of the Bombay Educational Service for obtaining for me particulars of Jlfahipati's life. C. A. K. 1. History of the Maratha People, by Kincaid and Parasnis. Oxford University Press. CONTENTS PAGE I. PundaJik and the Lord Krishna 7 2. The Coming of Dnyandev II 3. Dnyandev and Visoba Khechar 16 4. Jayadcv 18 5. Kabir 24 fl. Kabir and Kamal 27 7. Kabir and Ramanand 29 8. Padmanabh 33 9. Bhanudas 34 10. Bhanudas and King Ramaraj 37 I I. Kesha vswami .. 43 12. Gomai and the Lord Krishna 45 13. Latif Shah 47 14. Santoba Powar 48 IS. Niloba .. 52 16. Bahirambhat and Nagnath 54 17. Janjaswant 57 18. King Satwik 59 19. Sena the Barber 60 20. Jagamitra 63 2I. Namdev 66 22. Namdev and Dnyandev 69 23. Namdev and the Brahmans .. 72 24. Namdev and the Gold Stone .. 75 25. Gora the Potter 77 26. Namdev and Visoba Khechar 80 27. Parisa Bhagwat 84 6 PAGE 28. Dnyandev and Changdcv 87 29· N arh"ri the Goldsmith 89 30 . Kanhopatra 91 31. Rohidas the Shoemaker 94 3 2 . l\Iirahai .. 95 33 King Pipaji and the Tiger 98 34· N arsi Mehta 101 35· Ramdas of Dakor T05 36. Shant a Bahmani 108 37- Damajipant III 38. Kurmadas uti 39· Raka the POttlT 1I8 40 • The End of Dnyandev and his Brethren Il9 TALES OF THE SAINTS OF 6pAN'DHARPUR I. PUNDALIK AND THE LORD KRISHNA Once upon a time when the Deccan was but spar~ely peopled, a forest called the Dandirvan forest grew along the banks of the Bhima river. The forest took its name from a certain demon called Dandir who had once lived there. In the middle of it was a village called Pandharpur. It stood ur,on the banks of the Bhima, where it takes a big curve known as the Chandra bhaga. It was a sacred spot; for the moon god had bathed there, vainly trying to rid himself of the black marks which Gautama had stamped on his face for helping Indra in his attempt to carry off the lovely Ahalya. Now in Pandharpur there dwelt a certain Brahman named Janudeva and his wife Satyavati. Heaven had bless ed them with a son called Pundalik, who until he was sixteen years old was all that parents could wish a son to be. At sixteen Janudcva married Pundalik to the daughter of a neighbouring householder. But the marriage proved the parents' bane. Under his wife's influence Pundalik began tu ill-treat them. Although they had reached the evening of life and had earned rest and leisure, Pundalik forced them to grind the com, to sweep and clean the floors, to ,;ash the clothes and fetch the water, while he and his wife spent their days in idleness. One day a band of pilgrims on their way to Benares passed Pandharpur. When Janudeva and Satyavati saw them, they resolved to join them, for they had no happiness in their home and were weary of their lives. But when Pundalik's 8 THE SAINTS OF PANDHARPUR wife heard of their tlight, she said to her husband, "Let us join the pilgrims also" ; for she did not wish that the aged couple should escape her. Pundalik agreed. He and his wife hired horses and soon overtook the pilgrims who went on foot. The hearts of Janudeva and Satyavati sank within them when they saw Pundalik and his wife overtake them. Their fears were soon realised. Every evening Pundalik made them groom the two horses and attend to his own wants before he let them go to rest. And in no long time Janudeva and Satyavati came bitterly to regret that they had ever gone on the pilgrimage. One night darkness overtook the pilgrims before they had reached the appointed stage, so they resolved to pass the night at the hermitage of a great seer named Kukutswami, which stood in some woods a little off the main road. The rishi welcomed and fed them. Soon all the pilgrims wearied with the day's march fell fast asleep. Only Pundalik remain ed awake. t:ntil dawn came he tossed restlessly from side to side. Suddenly he became aware that a company of heautifnl women clad in soiled raiment had entered the room. Some of the fair women cleaned and swept the floor, others fetched water, others again \\ashed Kukutswami's clothes. But th"y moved so silently, that none of the tired pilgrims even moved in his sleep. Their work done, the heautiful women went into the great seer's chamber. After seeing him for a moment they carne back and vassed close to Pundalik. As they did so, he saw that their raiment was no longer soiled, but was clean and white. A moment latcr and the strange visitors had vanished in the darkness outside the hut.