Santh Jnaneshwar : The birth of Santh Jnaneshwar

Om Jai Sai Ram! Verily it is by the grace of the Sadguru that all good things happen and all can be achieved by the devotees. I am but a dullard, and it is only by the grace of the Sadguru that I am able to write these posts. For without the grace of the sadguru, what can one do in life indeed. For adhyathma the grace of the sadguru is very much necessary indeed. I now humbly bow and place my ego at the feet of my Sadguru and beseech him to help me in successful completion of this post. Sadguru alone does the writing and I am a mere instrument. In the previous post, I wrote how Vitthalpant, the illustrious father of Santha Jnanadev left his wife to take Sanyasa. I desribe how he got back with his wife and was forced to lead a life of grihastha and how this led to the birth of Santha Jnanadeva who is one with the supreme and was an incarnation of Panduranga.

For after leaving Alandi Vitthalpant headed towards Kashi. There he heard lived the great sage Ramananda. Ramananda was a realized soul, a jivanmuktha. His face shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns. As soon as Vitthalpant saw him, he humbly fell on his feet and pleaded thus.."Oh Gurudev, please accept me as your disciple and allow me to become a Sanyasin (Celibate). I have no family nor house. Please give me shelter and let me serve your lotus feet. Let me always serve you oh Samartha..Please do not deprive me of this". Hearing the sincere plea of Vitthalpant, Sage Ramanand was moved. The samartha replied thus "Oh Vitthalpant of Alandi, verily I am pleased by your devotion to the supreme. I shall initiate you this very day. Hence forth you will be known as Chaitanya Swami."

Thus did Vitthalpant serve the Samartha. In the meantime at Alandi, Rukmini led an austere life, eating one meal per day and going round the Ashwattha tree a thousand times a day. Now one day a fabulous thing happened. Please listen to this with attention. Sage Ramananda decided to go to the holy city of Rameshwaram to visit the other Jyotirlinga (Linga of Light) of Lord Shiva. Now there are 12 Jyotirlingas in the world. The one at Rameshwaram holds the unique distinction of being the only Jyotirlinga to be installed by a Vishnu avatara (Lord Rama an incarnation of Vishnu). The others were Swayambhu (Self originating). May that be. Now the Samartha left his ashram in the hands of his trusted disciple Chaitanyaswami and headed towards Rameshwaram. Travelling thus southward he reached Alandi. At Alandi, the samartha and his disciples encamped in a maruthi temple. Rukmini, who saw the samartha, as if drawn by his spiritual power, went and bowed to him. The samartha was most pleased and seeing the austere features of Rukmini and the sindoor (An indication that a woman is married) on her forehead blessed her thus "May you beget children who will be great teachers of mankind".

Now, stunned by this blessing, Rukmini smiled initially amused and then burst into tears. The samartha asked her thus, "Oh my child! Why do you grieve thus? What did I say to make you cry? For it is very true that the lord himself has made me utter these words! What is the matter?". Amidst sobs, Rukmini explained her story. Sage Ramanda was stunned and was convinced that the husband of this Rukmini was none other than his new disciple Chaitanyaswamy. Thus ended the Samartha's trip as he hurried off to Kashi in Haste.

Chaitanyaswami meanwhile was stunned to see his gurudev return early. He was met with an angry stare of the Samartha. Chaitanyaswami bowed low and addressed his gurudev thus "Oh gurudeva! What sin have I committed to incur this angry stare from you. I hope and pray sincierly to Panduranga that I have not caused you any discomfort in any way?". To which replied the Samartha "Oh Vitthalpant, it is a sin indeed to tell a lie to the Guru. And you have verily committed that. Fond as I am of your service and sincere yearning for god, you had no right to desert your wife and take sanyasa without the explicit permission of your wife. Your actions make not only you a sinner but also makes me a sinner for accepting you into our fold. The way I see it there is only one way out for you".

Thus addressed Chaitanyaswami said, "Hey Gurudeva, I have indeed committed the sin. Please do forgive me. Please do tell me as to how I can make up for this mistake?". The Samartha replied "There is only one way to make up for your sin. And that is by going back to lead the life of a grihastha (householder). Do go back to your wife. In this only lies your benefit. No one escape from his or her station in life, if he is bound by Karma to carry out some work. So I commad you to go back to your wife and once again lead the life of a householder. You will henceforth be called Vitthalpant, which was your own name."

Vitthalpant bowed humbly before the Gurudev and took leave. Then he returned to Rukmini who was overjoyed. But her joy was shortlived. It was an unheard of thing for a sanyasin to return to grihasthashrama. The brahmins of Alandi were enraged. They spoke thus "What is this? Nowhere in the scriptures is something like this mentioned. It is a vile sin verily. If we allow this to continue, the varnashrama system will be broken down. No one will follow rules and rituals. Let us excommunicate Vitthalpant and Rukmini". Thus they excommunicated Vitthalpant and Rukmini.

Vitthalpant and Rukmini were forced to leave the city of Alandi and had to go and live in a small hut on the banks of the Indrani river outside the village. Many years passed thus and four children were born to them. The first son was named Nivritthi (which means renounciation or proper direction, only by applying which one progresses in spiritual path), the second son who shone like a thousand suns was called Jnanadev (God of Knowledge. Nivritthi results in the obtaining of knowledge which is the second phase of spirituality). The third son was called Sopan (Peace of mind or control of the senses, the third phase of spirituality which comes through the first two) and the fourth child was a daughter called Muktabai (for Mukthi or salvation, the fourth and final stage of spirituality).

Thus were born four saints who were the crest jewels among saints. Even at a very young age, the showed maturity and wisdom which was far too much to be seen in young children. Jnanadev was especially interested in the Gita, and would often tell Vitthalpant, "Oh father, how I wish I could explain the Gita in Marathi to the local people who do not know Sanskrit. How beautiful is the Gita, it contains the very source of life". This made Vitthalpant think thus "Oh woe is me! I cannot initiate my children by giving them a thread ceremony and teach them the vedas. Unless the brahmins accept us back in the fold, there is no way my sons will get to learn the Vedas". He pondered thus and he finally decided to meet the brahmins of Alandi.

Thus ends the story of how Nivritthinath,Jnanadev,Sopan and Mukthabai were born. They were verily the incarnations of Lord Shiva,Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma and Mother Saraswathi. Even at a very young age they shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns. I humbly prostrate before these incarnations of god. It is only by singing their name that one gets bliss.

Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari!

Shree Satchitananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!

Bow to Shree Sai! Peace be to all!