Santh Jnaneshwar : The piligrimage with Santh Namdev

Om Shree Sainathaya Namaha! Who can describe the grandeur and glory of the Sadguru? It is easier to cover the entire sky with a cloth cover or measure the depth of the seven seas. In that case, how can a dullard like me sing the glory of the Sadguru? What is the way for me? However realizing that the Sadguru alone is the doer and he alone can help me sing his glory. Therefore I place my ego before his lotus feet and beseech him to help me sing his glory.

The galaxy of saints continued on with their piligrimage from Mewar. Nivritthinath,Jnaneshwar,Sopan,Muktabai, Namadeva and other manifestations of infinite brahman were moving to Northern India which was under harsh foreign rule and was an extremely hostile territory. However the saints continued on, singing the glory of Lord Vitthala and Mother Rukmini. When they reached Ayodhya, the wicked Muslim king heard of a large retinue coming to his kingdom and suspected it to be the enemies from the south. He sent his soldiers to investigate. The soldiers returned to him and told him that the people were Kafirs (Unbelievers of Islam) and were regarded by other Kafirs living in the kingdom as saints.

The cruel king immediately said "Saints, eh? How can they be saints, when they do not worship Allah? I will make mincemeat of these so called saints!". One of the wise court ministers however said "My lord, these saints are the same as our Sufi saints like Kwaja Mohinuddin and Nizamuddin Aulia. I have heard of these saints, and they indeed worship the same divinity as we do, but with a different name. Let us not displease Allah, by being harsh to his favorite children."

However the other religious bigots did not see the truth in this statement. They were blinded by fanatism. They urged the Sultan to continue with his course of action. The sultan however told all "I shall test the kafirs before executing them. I must find out for real if they are really Aulias". So saying the sultan had all the saints bought to the court. There he saw the pleasant and god intoxicated face of Namadeva first. He immediately became angry as fire and shouted at Namadeva "You kafir! You claim to be a saint! People worship you as though you are the almighty! Your religion and your singing is all false and will lead you to hell. Islam is the only true way of life. I tell you what? Do you see the butchered cow outside the palace? Bring it back to life by your powers. Then I will admit that you are an aulia. Else I will have an elephant run over you! If you cannot do this, and I know you cannot, then you must accept Islam. If you do so your life will be spared. So to spare your life, you must either bring the cow back to life or must accept Islam."

A few devotees who had accompanied the saints nudged Namadeva to get converted as it was hopeless to disobey the Sultan who was a devil incarnate. Namadeva said "I am not afraid of death! Nor can I not think of stopping my worship of Vitthala. His name and form are endeared in my mind. Allah is none other than Vitthala himself. However should I give in, people will follow my example and also get converted. One must worship god as he likes and wishes. Just as each parent treats his child with love and care, but the way it is shown may differ from parent to parent, in the same way each devotee worships god as he likes."

So saying Namadeva went near the dead cow and prayed earnestly to Lord Vitthala "Hey Vitoba! Hey Panduranga! You are my mother and father. I have sought refuge in you. If you do not save me now, who will? And what will happen to your reputation as a bhaktha vatshala (Protector of devotees) . Please oh deva! You are like a mother to me. Do what you think is right"

No sooner had Namadeva said this, the poor cow, that had been slain by the wicked Sultan came back to life. She bowed once before Namadeva and all the assembled saints and then went her way to her home. The Sultan and all the muslims were stunned. The Sultan came and hugged Namadeva and said "Please forgive me, oh Aulias. You truly are dear friends of Allah. How else could you perform this Karamat (Miracle) before our eyes. I release you and will give you plenty of gifts. Please do forgive me for treating you so unjustly."

Then Lord Jnanadeva responded "Oh king! Do not forget this. God is both formless and with form. He is everywhere and in every being. Never harm anyone or force anyone to follow your faith. It is upto the people to worship god as they believe. Your way of worship is only one of the ways. Please refrain from torturing people like this, just because they do not belong to your religion. They are all children of the same god. Please understand this."

The king bowed low before them all and pledged never to indulge in forceful conversions or killing of cows.

Thus did Santha Namadeva, by his bhakthi (devotion) bring back the life of a poor cow. And thus did Lord Vitthala, the aapathbandhava (The one who protects during difficulties) protected the lives of his manifestations from the wicked Sultan.

Pundalika Varadha! Hari Vitthala! Shree Jnandev! Shree Namdev! Shree Tukaram! Pandarinath Maharaj Ki Jai!

Shree Satchitananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj ki Kai!

Avadhuta chintana Shree Gurudeva Datta!

Bow to Shree Sai! Peace be to All!