Among the great saints of Maharashtra who surrendered at the feet of Lord Vitthala of Pandharpur, Sant Namadev (1270 -1350 C.E.) holds a very special place. He loved Vitthala with such intensity and one-pointedness that he could not think of anything but Vitthala; the feeling of separation even for a moment caused heart-rending pain to this bhaktashiromani, crest-jewel among devotees.
Namadev’s main bhava was that of a child; to him Vitthala was mother, father, friend, wealth—his everything! He won the Lord’s heart not through knowledge, intense austerity or any other esoteric sadhana, but by the power of his fervent love! All he wanted was premasukha, the bliss of love—to engulf Vitthala with streams of love and to be loved by Vitthala likewise.
He was a contemporary and close companion of Sant Jnaneshvar, who laid the foundation of the Varkari Sampradaya or the tradition of Vitthalabhakti. Whereas Sant Jnaneshvar entered sanjivan samadhi in 1296 C.E. at the age of 22, Namadev Maharaj outlived him by 54 years and contributed greatly in spreading the new faith through his fervent kirtans.
Early years
Namadev was born in 1270 C.E. into a low-caste family of tailors. His parents, Damasheti and Gonaibai were sincere devotees of Vitthala or Pandurang of Pandharpur. Their family deity was Kesiraj, which is but a small murti of Lord Vitthala; this murti incidentally is still worshipped by Namadev’s descendants in Pandharpur. Namadev thus grew up singing bhajans, having darshan of Vitthala, bathing in the sacred Chandrabhaga river, and mixing with the devotees pouring into Pandharpur on Ekadasi days.
One incident in his childhood, left an indelible mark on his tender heart. During his father’s absence, the boy was told to offer milk to Kesiraj. The boy, believing that the offering had to be literally consumed by the Lord, pleaded with such sincerity that Vitthala really drank the milk! From then on Namadev had no other interest in life than Vithoba; in one of his abhangs, he sings: ‘Without you Lord, I can feel no sweetness in life whatsoever!’
Namadev was married at an early age to Rajai. Though he eventually had four sons and a daughter, he did very little to maintain the family. For this, he had to face continuous complaints and naggings from his parents, relatives and wife.
In the painting portraits of Namadev, we see him standing at the main entrance of Vitthala’s temple, singing abhangs for the Lord. He has a chipli (a small chiming musical instrument) in hand and a small tanpura kind of instrument hanging from the shoulder. Describing his state, he sings: Hati vina mukhi hari…: ‘With vina in my hand and Hari’s name on my tongue, I’m singing in the temple. Hunger and thirst are gone –I’m deeply immersed in God! Wife, sons, father, mother—I can’t remember them! There is no consciousness of my body; I’m fully immersed in the sound of the holy name! Nama says: Lord, I want your lotus feet on my head!’
The more Namadev loved Vitthala, the closer Vitthala was to him. Nama would say: ‘Lord, wherever I look, I see only you!’ People wondered what holy deeds Nama must have done to tie the Lord with the stongest bonds of love. There are many miraculous stories about Vitthala rushing to help his beloved Nama in even seemingly trivial situations. Lord Vitthala thatched Nama’s roof when it was damaged by a storm, and He restored Nama’s peace at home by taking care of the household affairs.
Pandharpur
What the name Pandhari signifies for the saints and devotees of Vitthala cannot be fathomed by the casual visitor. Pandharpur is to them ‘the city of bliss’. This bliss flows from the constant bhajans, the singing of abhangs, and the chanting of the Lord’s name. In this aspect Pandharpur is entirely unique! It is not a place of stern sadhana or quiet meditation. Here, the devotees sing, dance, and play games, knowing that this is their very own place, their ‘maher’ or maternal home where they can be completely at ease! Everyone becomes Vitthala’s child and there is a permanent festival of the holy name! This joy is so infectious that Vitthala leaves Vaikuntha and dances with his bhaktas on the holy river sand—the ’valuvant’ —of the Chandrabhaga river! Vaikuntha is here on earth – Bhu Vikunth Pandhari! The abhangs repeatedly speak about the Lord’s Alinganam, His ‘embrace’. Vitthala stands there looking out for his bhaktas, and embracing them He feeds them premapanha, the milk of love. Furthermore, Pandhari is described as a place where the suffering of infinite births is simply forgotten. It is the ‘home and city of the saints’. It is impossible to get anywhere else such a communion with saints and devotees. On the monthly Ekadashis, and during the culmination of the four big pilgrimages to Pandharpur held every year, thousands and thousands of Varkaris gather in Pandhari, and the Lord’s name and bhajans reverberate in every nook and corner of the city. The blessing of the saints of this sampradaya is almost equal to Vitthala’s blessings because He is their very life! Caste, class and gender discriminations have no place here. Vitthala bhakti means total equality of all beings! As Sri Ramakrishna would say, ‘Lovers of God do not belong to any caste!’
Sant Janabai
Janabai was a maid-servant in the household of Namadev Maharaj. When only a girl, her father handed her over to the care of Namadev’s father Damasheti. She spent her whole life doing menial service in Namadev’s house and became the foremost disciple of Namadev. Her devotion was so pure and so intense that Vitthala helped her in all her household chores. The picture of Janabai grinding grains together with Vitthal in the early morning hours is etched in the minds of the devotees. She composed many fervent abhangs, signing them as Namayaci Jani or ‘Nama’s Jani’. Even today her name is taken together with Namadev as Namadeva – Janabai!
Namadev meets Jnaneshvar
If the Varkari-Sampradaya got a strong foundation and impetus through Sant Jnaneshvar, the movement spread far and wide through Sant Namadev’s travels and kirtans. The historic meeting of the two saints came about when Jnaneshvar and his siblings came to Pandharpur. Both were naturally drawn to each other, forming opposite and yet converging wpoles – jnana and bhakti! Namadev was in his early twenties and Jnaneshvar was 4-5 years younger to him. Along with other great devotees of Vitthala living in and around Pandharpur, they formed a wonderful group of Prema bhaktas.
The ‘Guru Conundrum’
One day, when all the saints sat together, Sant Gora, the potter, tapped on each one’s head with his clay-paddle to test the degree of their spiritual maturity. From the sound, he inferred which of these ‘pots’ were baked and ripe, and which were unbaked. When it was Namadev’s turn, he declared him as ‘raw and unbaked’, stating that he had not yet accepted a guru. Namadev Maharaj felt ridiculed and rushed in distress to Vitthala to pour his heart out to him. He said: ‘I’m so close to the Guru of the whole universe! – why should I need another guru?! It seems so unnecessary! You are my guru, Vitthala!!’ But the Lord asked him to set an example for the common people and chose Vishoba Khechar as his guru. Ironically, the guru was a Shivabhakta from the Natha Sampradaya. When Namadev approached him, he found him sleeping with his feet resting on the Shivalingam! Namadev was appalled. The first thing he found in his guru was a terrible mistake! When he shifted the guru’s feet away from the lingam, and tried to lay it down, another lingam appeared beneath the feet! This continued until there was no space empty of the Lord! Namadev realised that everything was in the form of Shiva—the temple, the guru, and even himself. Experiencing the omnipresence of God, Namadev embraced his guru’s feet!
That Vitthala chose a Shaivaite guru for Namadev, reveals the spirit of the tradition. Jnaneshvar himself was an initiated Natha Yogi, and the abhangs state: Harihara bheda nahi!— ‘There is no difference between Vishnu and Shiva.’
Sant Namadev’s Kirtans
Performing a kirtan has a somewhat different connotation in Maharashtra than in other Indian states. There is bhajan and there is kirtan. Bhajan is when people sit together and sing one abhang after another to the accompaniment of tal and pakhvaj. Kirtan means that there is a kirtankar, standing in the centre holding a tanpura, who is very knowledgeable and experienced and has the abhangs at the tip of his tongue! He will sing and explain only one abhang, but whenever he remembers related lines from other abhangs, he will intonate them, and the other Varkaris standing on both sides, follow him immediately with cymbals and sing the repetitions.
All the sants, especially Namadev were great kirtankars. In this way, they spread the message of bhakti and the holy name. Kirtans are hugely popular and contribute a great deal in educating the public. The abhangs speak about ‘dancing coloured by the kirtan with limbs filled with love, losing body consciousness, becoming one, becoming pure…samadhi in the kirtan!’
The Big Pilgrimage
Jnaneshvar persuaded the a reluctant Namadev who didn’t want to leave Vitthala and Pandharpur, to join him on a long pilgrimage to most of the holy places in North India. In the course of this pilgrimage there developed a very close bonding between them. This pilgrimage is described in Namadev’s Tirthavali, mentioning many miraculous adventures. In the desert of Marwar near Bikaner, when Nama was terribly thirsty, Vitthala made the underground water spring up to quench Nama’s thirst; in Delhi, Nama through his devotion to Vitthala brought back to life the cow which the Mohammedan king had slain; and during Shivaratri, when they performed a wonderful kirtan in front of the Aundha Naganath Shiva temple and the annoyed brahmins chased them to the back-gate, the whole temple swung around for their sake!
When they returned to Pandharpur after several years, Jnanershvar expressed his wish to enter Sajivan samadhi in Alandi. This decision of his dearest friend plunged Namadev into terrible grief! In his abhangs titled Samadhi-Sohala he describes in minute detail, yet in a transcendental way, the whole samadhi-festival of Jnaneshvar in Alandi. This event is still celebrated every year during Nov-Dec.
Namadev’s Abhangs
Sant Namadev had vowed to compose shatakoti or one billion abhangs in praise of Lord Vitthala, confident that with Vitthala’s help anything could be achieved. The task was divided among the members of his household. Legend goes that he did fall short by several thousands and that 400 years later Namadev came back as Sant Tukaram to fulfill this promise.
The originals of Namadev’s abhangs are not preserved. They have undergone changes while being recited and handed down orally; it was over 200 years after Namadev’s samadhi that kirtanakaras recorded them in notebooks. In 1970 the government of Maharashtra brought out a serialized collection of the available abhangs, and they come to a mere 2373! The abhangs of Namadev’s sons and other family members come to about 150 and Janabai’s verses to 350!
Namadev’s abhangs can be recognized by his ‘mudra’ in the last line, which is Nama mhane, ‘says Nama’ or sometimes also Vishnudasa Nama mhane. His compositions cover various themes and most of them are direct dialogues with Vitthala. In so many ways he pleads with Him, and the same images come again and again! And in the abhangs, Vitthala speaks with Namadev just like any other person. In fact, there are abhangs which bear the signature ‘Vitho mhane’, ‘Vitho says’! Yet, though both are so close and inseparable, the underlying bhava is that Vitthala is ‘the Absolute’, ‘the repository of all happiness’, ‘the highest abode standing on a brick’.
Vitthala as a Mother
Though Vitthala is sometimes addressed as Sakha Panduranga, friend, or as Mayabapa, mother and father in one, the principal bhava of all the saints is that of a child towards its mother. They conferred motherhood on Vitthala, because they felt that only a mother could show such tender and compassionate feelings, and give such unconditional love and comfort to all the suffering beings. Vitthala became Vithabai, Vithai or Pandurangi.
Namadev especially felt that he was a destitute, helpless child, depending on Mother Vitthala for everything. With heart overflowing with love, he would sing, ‘You are my mother, I am your infant child! Feed me the milk of love!’
This milk of love is called Premapanha, and this is an expression unique to Vitthala bhakti and especially to Namadev and Tukaram. The picture conveyed is that of a mother cow and her calf—here Vitthala and the bhakta—reuniting after being separated; both rush towards each other with great joy and out of deep affection for her calf, milk is spurting out of the cow’s udder. This milk of love is Premapanha, and it overflows when the devotee desires Vitthala.
Special to Namadev’s abhangs are the comparisons with various mother-animals and their young ones: Tu majhi maoli mi vo tujha tanha… ‘You are my mother and I’m your suckling child, feed me the milk of love, Mother Panduranga! You are my cow-mother and I’m your calf, don’t stop the flow of premapanha! You are my mother-deer and I’m your little fawn, break the fetters of samsar! You are my mother-bird and I’m your fledgling, feed me, Panduranga!’ Again he sings, ‘Come mother Vitthal, affectionate to your bhaktas, wave of compassion, you are a pregnant rain cloud of mercy, Panduranga! Come in your yellow garment, mother Kesiraja, save me!! Nama says: You are the mother of the universe; you are none other than Jagadamba who resides in the ocean of milk!’
Vitthala’s Samacharan
Another thing that strikes while reading Namadev’s abhangs is his total obsession with Vitthala’s feet. In nearly every abhang he expresses his perception that the whole creation is in the form of Vitthala’s samacharan’, ‘evenly-placed feet’. He says: ‘Vitthal, what can I tell you about the bliss I feel at your feet’, ‘your feet have coloured my heart!’ ‘my bhava is at your feet and your form is in front of my eyes!’
The Mahadwar
The big temple gate in Pandharpur, the Mahadwar, takes a completely new dimension and meaning with Sant Namadev. He would stand with an overflowing heart sobbing and crying in front of the Mahadvar, pleading with Vitthala. His emotions were such that Vitthala had to come out and give him darshan! He says: ‘My heart lies always at your temple gate; in my mind I live continuously in Pandhari! When will you meet me?’
Life after Life
This relation between Vitthala and his bhaktas is described as janmojanmi, ‘for life after life!’ Namadev says, Tujhiya caranaci na sandi asa, ‘I will never lose hope for your charan, no matter how many times I have to take birth again! Life after life give me your name! Vitthalabhakti doesn’t strive for moksha – the Varkaris gladly agree to take birth again and again as long as their life thread remains intertwined with Vitthala!
Maganis
Saints too have many maganis or requests; but they never ask Vitthala for worldly things. Here Sant Namadev says Pandharica vasa chandrabhaga snana…. ‘to live in Pandhari, to take bath in the Chandrabhaga and have darshan of Vithoba! To have always the holy name on the lips and the company of the sants—such a loving relation between Janardan and his bhaktas! Nama says: let me be always in front of your mahadvar proclaiming your names in the kirtan with all my love! Shall that happen to me birth after birth—I’m not asking for anything else!’
On the Lord’s name
Namadev has written many abhangs on the Holy Name as the easiest way to cross samsara in this Kaliyuga. The Varkari Sampradaya is a bhajan sampradaya—everything is achieved by just repeating the name with love! ‘Remembering constantly the name, what fault could remain on such a person?!’ ‘On whose tongue is the name, even death is bowing in front of him!’ ‘The name of God is his form and God’s form is his name! Name and form are non-different! There is no higher mantra than the Lord’s name!’
On Pandharpur
The abhangs on Pandharpur are among the most wistful and at the same time joyous! For the devotees, Pandhari is a place where deepest spiritual longings find fulfilment! Namadev says: ‘Remembering my maher (maternal home) Pandhari, tears are streaming!’ ‘Blessed are those who go on the pilgrimage (wari) to Pandharpur! I take the dust of their feet!’ ‘In whose life, there is prem for Pandhari, I take him as my closest relative and blissful sadguru and set all hopes on him!’ Again he sings, aise tirtha koni dakhava gomate…. ‘Let anybody show an equally wonderful place where every moment you can meet the Absolute, the Parabrahma! Where in the three worlds is there such a kshetra with the crest jewel of all tirthas, the Chandrabhaga! Let anybody show an equally beautiful place where love is overflowing all the time! Where else is the feast of Harikatha so easily obtainable! Show me another place so spotless where all living beings are pure Parabrahma! Nama says: Pandhari is our maher, home of the lowly and afflicted! Blessed Pandharpur—I’m singing of you!’
It is difficult to imagine what could have made Namadev leave his beloved Pandhari. But he did go to Punjab in his later life and he spent twenty years in the town of Ghuman near Amritsar. He established there the tradition of Vitthala bhakti and the teachings of the Bhagavat Dharma through his fervent kirtans in Hindi. We have several hundred Hindi Padavalis of Bhagat Namadevji. The Sikh guru Arjun Singh, integrated 61 of Namadev’s Hindi songs in the Guru Granth Sahib, the scripture of Sikhism. In paintings of that region he appears very different from what is popularly known in Maharashtra; he is seen as a bearded yogi sitting in padmasan. The people of Ghuman claim that his samadhi is there, but legend has it that he returned eventually to Pandhari and left his body at the ripe age of eighty!
Namadev was eager to have the dust of the feet of countless devotees and saints. Hence, his samadhi is at his beloved mahadvar, the big gate of the temple. He lies there buried under the first step –the Namadev Payari. People say that not only Namadev, but all 14 members of his household, including Sant Janabai, took sajivan samadhi at the same time and that they all lie buried there! Namadev’s charming old-fashioned wada with the original murti of Keshiraj is still in Pandharpur near the temple with about 50 descendants of the 16th, 17th and 18th generation living there together, carrying on the legacy of Namadev mainly by way of kirtan.
Sant Namadev was not the author of any big treatise or book; yet his abhangs reflect him more clearly than any historical biography could do.