Santha Jnaneshwar: Which pot is half baked?

Om Jai Sai Ram! This universe is the Sadguru and nothing else. The whole world is pervaded by the Sadguru and the whole world dwells within him. It is only by the grace of sadguru that one can hope to achieve the most important aim in this life, viz salvation. I cannot stress enough on the fact that the task I have undertaken is audacious, and it is impossible for a dullard like me to sing the glories of the sadguru. However, by clinging onto the Sadguru's lotus feet and realizing that he alone is the doer, and I the instrument, I proceed to sing his glory. All praise be to Sadguru Sainath Maharaj. I now go onto narrate a beautiful tale of several saints, who were verily divine incarnations and had come to lighten the burden of mother earth.

In the previous post I described how Lord Jnanadeva and his brothers and sisters met several saints in Pandharpur, foremost among them being Santha Namadeva, Chokar Mela, Janabai. It was also seen that though Santha Namadeva was the staunchest devotee of Lord Panduranga, he had not realized that Panduranga was everywhere and in everyone. This saddened the other saints and they wanted him to realize the essence of brahman. Hence Santha Jnanadeva hinted to him that he should have a guru. However Santha Namadeva vehemently refused and said Lord Panduranga himself is his guru and Pandarpura is his gurukul (School).

That day, as Santha Namadeva went to feed Panduranga the Naivedya (Consecrated food), Panduranga did not accept it. Santha Namadeva was alarmed, and seeing him thus worried, a priest asked him "What is the matter oh Namadeva?". Namadeva replied "Behold oh priest, my Vitthala refuses to take food from my hands, and refuses to hear me out! What could be the reason?". The priest thought for a while and came up with a plausible explaination that "Panduranga might have gone to help some great devotee of his!" . Then Santha Namadeva grew angry and said "Who can be a greater devotee than I? I am the foremost of Panduranga's devotees!"

While Namadeva was thus burning with anger coming from conceit, a few miles away in a village not far from Pandharpur, one could hear "Vitthala Vitthala, Panduranga" amidst the hustle and bustle of the village everyday. This was a sight common to the people of the village. There was a potter, working his way with the clay, mixing the clay with his feet, and dancing in glee at the same time, lost in a trance, thinking of none other than his beloved Panduranga. His name was Ghora and he was popularly called Ghora Kumbhara (Potter). He had mixed the clay of dispassion, in the pure water called bhakthi (devotion) and heated it in the kiln called Jnana (Knowledge) to obtain the pot called Mukthi (Spiritual illumination) . Though uneducated and without access to of the scriptures, Ghora had attained spiritual illumination through complete submission to god and being egoless.

It was when he was in such a state of ecstacy that he was told that his village would be visited by Lord Jnanadeva ,his brothers and sister, Santha Namadeva and many other saints. He was extremely pleased to hear this. He immediately ran to his wife Lakshmi and told her "Oh Lakshmi, blessed are we! The foremost of the devotess of Panduranga such as Nivritthinath, Jnanadeva, Sopan, Muktha Bai and Santha Namadeva are coming to our village. It is said that by visiting the saints, one is really blessed. Get our son Vitu also, and let us go and visit them". To which Lakshmi Bai replied, "I see you everyday, and that is enough for me. You please go and visit them if you please, for I have to feed Vitu and put him to sleep". Ghora agreed and left to meet the saints.

Onwards went Ghora, alongside all the village elders to welcome the saints. When Lord Jnanadeva saw Ghora , he said "Uncle, blessed are we to have met you. What is your name. You seem to be lost in contemplation of Lord Panduranga, and your face is illimunied by self realization. Please tell us who you are?", to which Ghora replied "They call this body of mine as Ghora. I am a potter by profession. By Panduranga's grace I have had the good fortune of meeting great saints like you. I would be blessed if you were to come to my house for dinner tonight." To which the village elders replied "Oh holy ones, what can this impoverished potter give you. We can serve you with the best of the dishes and look after your needs. Please come to our house". But Lord Jnanadeva said "It is Panduranga's will that we should dine with uncle Gora today, and that we shall do. We thank you for your kind invitation". So saying, the saints went to Gora's house.

Impoverished though Gora was, on reaching home, he found that his brother in law had brought extra grains from his fields, as his harvest was a rich one this time, and gave it to Gora. Thus, the articles required for cooking a sumptuos meal was arranged by Lord Panduranga. Verily his leelas are inscrutable.

After dinner, Lord Jnaneshwar pointed to all the saints assembled there, asked Ghora playfully "Uncle Gora, can you test and see which pot here is half baked?". To which Gora took a wooden stick (which is normally used for testing whether a pot is baked or not. The testing is done by tapping the pot and hearing it's sound), and started tapping the heads of all the saints assembled there. As he went on tapping, none of the saints said anything. However when he tapped on the head of Namadeva, Namadeva uttered an exclaimation "Oh! That hurts! What on earth did you do that for?", and Gora immediately told the assembled saints "This pot is half baked!" and all the saints burst into laughter. Actually half baked here meant, that the person has not completely attained spiritual illumination or has not yet realized or become one with Brahman.

Namadeva felt utterly humiliated. He immediately left Gora's hut and ran the 2-3 Kms all the way to Pandarpur in tears and fell at the feet of Panduranga. He broke down and told Panduranga "Oh Panduranga! Everyone thinks I do not know god! I know you! and I have seen you! You alone can give me solace and help my troubled mind".Seeing this Lord Panduranga's heart melted and he appeared before Namadeva. Namadeva clasped his feet and said, "Lord help me for I am confused!". Then the Lord of Mother Lakshmi spoke thus "Oh Namadeva! You are dear to me! Yet, I cannot understand why you ran this distance to meet me. Do you not know that I am everywhere? There was nothing wrong in what Gora said, for he has realized my true nature. I want you to realize the same, and hence you must go to a Sadguru or spiritual preceptor. He is one with me, and he alone can guide you to my true nature. Go therefore to the Shiva temple in the village of Avandhya. There you will meet your Sadguru, who is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara in one".

Namadeva protested vehemently "But oh Lord, when I am in your midst, why do I need a Guru? You alone are Sagun Brahman (God with form). Why should I go to a Guru? Should the calf leave it's mother in search of another cow for it's milk? Or should someone, who is posessed with the Kalpataru tree (A wish fulfilling tree, that satisfies all wishes of the one who posesses it), go elsewhere to look for prosperity? Pray tell me my Lord! Do not confuse me!"

To which Lord Krishna replied gently "Look Namadeva, even as Rama and Krishna I had to resort to Vasishta and Sandipani as my Gurus. They (Vasishta and Sandipani) are verily one with me. Even when imparting knowledge to Arjuna in the battlefield at Kurukshetra, I told him, one must serve the self realized sages, to reach their state. One must submit one's ego at the feet of a Sadguru and this is the easiest sadhana to realize me. Hence, to bring you closer to me, and for your welfare, I want you to go to the Shiva temple in Avandhya. This is my wish, and if you really love me, you must follow it".

Namadeva said "Say no more my Lord. For your sake, I am willing to walk all the way to the ends of the world. I shall go to the Shiva temple at Avandhya, as you wish."

Then once again he fell at Vitthala's feet and clasped it. The Lord Vishnu incarnate, then disappeared into his swayambhu murthi. Then Namadeva with a heavy heart, left Pandharpur and headed for the Shiva temple in Avandhya.

Beautiful was this incident. Just as a mother forces bitter pills down the throat of the child to cure the child of certain ailments, Lord Panduranga through Ghora and other Saints made Namadeva realize that he had certain ailments in his spiritual outlook, and that he had the arrogance of being "Vitthala's favourite devotee". To cure him from the problem, the best and the fastest method was resorting to a Sadguru, and it was in search of this Sadguru that Namadeva left for the village of Avandhya.

What happened to Namadeva in Avandhya is a beautiful incident. It is an eloquent commentry on the essence of life and of the all pervasiveness of God. The beautiful incident of how Santha Namadeva met his Guru I will by the grace of Sadguru Sainath explain in the next post.

Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari!

Shree Satchitananda Sadguru Sainath Mahraj Ki Jai!

Bow to Shri Sai! Peace be to all!