Santha Jnaneshwar : The piligrimage with Santha Namadeva

Om Jai Sai Ram! Verily the Sadguru alone is the truth and all else is an illusion. The truth is that god is! He is the creator and he is the creation. The creation, sustenance and dissolution are merely his illusory powers. The truth being that he is! And to realize this, we must resort to a Sadguru, and if the ego be submitted to the lotus feet of the Sadguru, the wall of distinction between the guru and the devotee disappears and the seeker (devotee) realizes that "soham" (I am that). Verily submitting the ego does not mean that we think low of ourselves. For our true nature is Brahman itself! Our true nature is the Sadguru himself. The false ego or this "I" prevents us from exercising our full potential. And it is for this reason that I submit my ego at the lotus feet of Sadguru, and beseech him to help me describe his glory.

In the last post on Santha Jnaneshwara, I described how Namadeva met his guru Visoba, and through him realized the true nature of Panduranga. He hurried back to Pandharapura and embraced all the saints present there because of whom, he met his guru. He also thanked Panduranga, who is bhaktha vatsala (Protector of the devotees) and has his merciful glance cast at all devotees. Then Panduranga told him "Now Namadeva, proceed with Jnanadeva and his brothers and sister and all the saints and go on a piligrimage. Spread this path of bhakthi which I have extolled to Arjuna before the begining of the Kurukshetra war. Do realize that Jnanadeva is me and I am Jnanadeva. He is Parabrahma himself, and therefore this trip will be a very fruitful one for you". Namadeva fell at his beloved Vitoba's feet, and taking his blessings, along with the other saints, set out on the piligrimage.

This was a trip that was as the slayer of Madhu said, very fruitful to Namadeva, Jnanadeva and all the people they met. Blessed were those who got an opportunity to touch the lotus feet of these saints. Several miracles were performed by both Jnanadeva and Namadeva during the trip and I will, by the grace of the Sadguru narrate them one by one in this and future posts.

Traveling for many days by thinking of none but Panduranga, and singing his glory the saints reached the merciless desert of Marwar. Their throats parched after traveling awhile, the saints started looking for some source of water. The exhaustion was extreme, the heat piercing, the saints prayed to Panduranga to provide them respite, and then to their relief they saw a well in the distance. Just as a hungry calf runs towards it's mother or just as one who has a painful affliction suddenly sees nectar which can cure the ailment runs towards it, the saints felt happy and went towards the well praising Panduranga while they went.

However as they approached the well, to their dismay, they found the water level was very low and there was no facility to draw water from the well, which was quite deep. Jnanadeva, who was perfect in the eight fold techniques of yoga, went in a subtle form and drank water to his fill and then came back and addressed Namadeva and the other saints thus "Dear brothers and sisters, please do not worry.I shall go again in this subtle form and get water for you and everyone assembled here". However Namadeva stopped him and said "Oh dear Jnanadeva, why should we worry. It is as our beloved Panduranga wishes. Panduranga is our father and Rukmai is our mother. And what does a child do when it wants something? It goes immediately to it's mother! Oh mother Rukmai, hear me out. Do you want your children to remain thirsty in this merciless desert?". No sooner had Namadeva pleaded to Mother Rukmai with all his heart, the water level immediately rose and the well was filled upto the brim. Lord Jnanadeva was pleased with this and addressed Namadeva thus "Oh Namadeva! You are Lord Krishna and Mother Rukmai's beloved indeed. So complete is your submission, and so egoless are you, that you have become one with the lord. You are indeed a great devotee of Lord Panduranga, and shall be known as thus till eternity". Saying thus, Jnanadeva bowed at Namadeva's bhakthi (devotion), and Namadeva bowed at Jnanadeva's Jnana (Knowledge). All the saints present sang praises of Panduranga, Jnanadeva and Namadeva. They also quenched their thirst and went onwards with the piligrimage.

This well can be seen even today in a place called Kaladji which is about 10 miles from Bikaner.

Praise be to Lord Panduranga. He alone is the doer and the inner dweller of all beings. It is by his grace only, that such beautiful incidents as the above happen. Victory be to Lord Panduranga and Mother Rukmai! Victory be to Lord Jnanadeva and Santha Namadeva. Victory be to all the saints who are the image of Panduranga.

Jai Jai Ram Krishna Hari!

Shree Satchitananda Sadguru Sainath Maharaj ki Jai!

Bow to Shree Sai! Peace be to all!