Namdev was the son of Damasheti, a tailor, who resided at Narsi Bamani, a village near Karbad in the Satara district of the Bonnbay Presidency. Namdev’s mother was Gonabai, daughter of a tailor at Kalyan, in the same district. Both Namdev’s [ p. 18 ] father and mother, and probably their ancestors for some generations, possessed great devotional enthusiasm. Outside the village of Narsi Bamani stood the temple of Keshiraj (Shiv), of whom Damasheti was a devout worshipper. He never omitted to pay a daily visit to the temple and make an offering to his god. Namde€s mother when pregnant used to request everybody she met to repeat the name of her favourite god. Namdev was born on Sunday the eleventh day of the light half of the month of Kartik in the Shaka year 1192, A. D. 1270. At the age of three years the young saint used to ejaculate the name of the local god of his devotion. At the age of five years he was sent to school, but he made no progress in learning. Whenever he found an opportunity, either in the absence of his teachers or otherwise, he set his schoolfellows singing songs to his favourite god, in which he joined both with voice and cymbal accompaniment. It is said that he loved God even from the day of his birth, and his divine love and devotion increased with his years.
At the age of eight years Namdev was betrothed to Rajabai, daughter of Govind Sheti. By her lie ultimately had four sons, Narayan, Mahadev, Govind, and Vithal, and one daughter named Limba Bai.
His father finding that he made no progress in learning apprenticed him to his own trade. It very soon became manifest that Namdev paid no attention to practical busings, but spent his time consorting with religious mendicants, visiting the temple of his god, and performing the devotions usual in sudi cases, It was then decided to put him to commerce. To this he consented, but represented that he possessed no capital. This was procured from a friendly banker. When Namdev found himself in the possession of funds, he gave a great feast to Brahmans, which exhausted all his money. At this both his parents and the moneylender were greatly [ p. 19 ] distressed. His mother bitterly reproached him for his recklessness and extravagance—
‘Was it for tins I carried thee about for nine months ? Was this misery kept in store for my old age ? 0 why did I not rather remain a barren woman than give birth to such a son? Art thou not ashamed of thyself ? People laugh at thee for thy madness. Have some respect for thy mother. Look at my grey hairs. Think of the miseries of thine aged father. What wilt thou gain by this madness ? There are also other worshippers of Keshiraj. Wliy canst thou not act like them ? What merits wilt thou obtain from this god ? All who cared for him were ruined.’
Namdev’s mother, finding her remonstrances and objurgations useless, appealed to the priests of the temple to remonstrate with her son and lead him to a right understanding of his worldly position. From them, too, no hope was received of the youth’s amendment. They urged in reply to her representations that she was a fortunate mother, and that the good deeds of her previous births had ripened, and she had obtained a saint for a son,
One day when Naindev’s father was absent, the son took the daily offering of the family to the temple. It consisted of milk, which the youth had just milked from his cow. He thought that the god would freely partake of the offering on which he had lavished so much care. The stony idol, however, would no vouchsafe to do so. Upon this Namdev began to cry, threw himself down at the god’s feet and uttered passionate supplications. In due time the god relented and accepted the boy’s offering. He celebrated the event in the following hymn in the Bhairo measure ;—
Nama having milked his brown cow took
A cup of milk and a jug of water for the idol.
‘Drink milk and my mind will he at ease;
Otherwise my father will be angry.’ [ p. 20 ]
A golden cup filled with milk
Nama took and placed before the idol—
The saints alone abide in my heart—
On seeing Nama the god smiled ;
On giving milk to the idol the worshipper Nama went home,
And God appeared unto him.
With reference to this miracle the author of the Bhagat Mal, in a paroxysm of devotion, remarks, ‘Congratulations to God who loveth His saints, and is pleased with their devotion. Thou whom the Veda call Endless, and to attain whom Shiv and the other demigods performed every form of penance, art so much in the power of the saints and their love, that Thou performest everything according to their desires.’
It appears that Namdev, on arriving at man’s estate, for a time grew weary of saintship. He records of himself that through evil destiny he began to associate with dakaits or Indian highwaymenj and plunder travellers. He and his gang killed several Brahmans, pilgrims, and innocent men. His father and other elderly persons remonstrated with him, but he heeded not their censures. At last the Emperor dispatched a squadron of cavalry to arrest the offenders. They refused to submit, and in the skirmish which ensued eighty-four of the troopers were slain, whereupon the remainder decamped.
Namdev possessed a large and excellent mare on which he used to scour the country and visit distant places. Wether as the result of habit or repentance, he made a vow, which he religiously kept, to behold daily the idol of Nagnath in the village of Aundhi, about sixteen miles to the east of Pandharpur.
There is another temple of Nagnath in the village of Vadval and thither, went Namdev to behold the great saint Vishoba Khechar. Vishoba, in order [ p. 21 ] to make a trial of Namdev, resolved to assume the appearance of a leper. He thought that in this way if Namdev’s faith were not strong, he would incontmently mn away, Namdev in his search for Vishoba went into the neighbouring temple. There he saw a leper lying on the ground resting his shodden feet on a lingam, the emblem of Shiv. On beholding the insult to the idol, Namdev chid the leper and asked him to leave the sacred edifice. Vishoba replied that he was an old man who could not attend to nice formalities of worship, but Namdev might turn his feet in whatever direction he pleased. Upon this Namdev raised the old man’s feet and turned them in a different direction. There, too, it is said, Namdev again saw a lingam under Vishoba’s feet. He was astonished, as well he might be, on beholding this extraordinary circumstance, and asked the leper where Vishoba was. The leper replied, ‘ I am Vishoba.’ Namdev then asked how a man reputed to be a saint could be guilty of placing his feet on a lingam and thus outraging the god. Vishoba replied that he found no place which was not filled with God. Namdev bowed to him, and expressed a desire to become his disciple. Vishoba then proposed to Namdev to take him outside the temple. When Vishoba was deposited there, he said he would accept Namdev as a disciple, and bade him close his eyes. Namdev did so, and on opening them saw no longer a leper, but a priest in vigorous health and manly beauty.
Namdev abode for several months with Vishoba Khechar and received instruction from him as recorded in a work called Namdev Gatha, principally in the Marathi language, but containing also one hun dred and ten Hindi stanzas from which Namdev’s hymns in the Granth Sahib have been selected.
On one occasion when Namdev went to behold his god in the temple he was not allow’ed to enter because a Brahman, who had brought cooked food to offer to [ p. 22 ] the god, would not suffer persons of Namdev’s degraded caste to stand under the same roof with him Namdev while detained outside the temple saw approach a veiy needy low-caste woman with a child on her hip. The child was crying pitifully for a morsel of the food brought by wealthy persons as offerings to the god. The mother tried to restrain the child’s cries and longings. Tlie child refused to be comforted and only cried and coveted the more. The woman then began to beat the child. Namdev’s heart melted at the sight, and he remonstrated with the mother for her behaviour. She replied, ‘The child is very hungry and wishes me to give her the god’s food, which is impossible. I have nothing myself, I am totally without means. My husband was one of the eighty-four horsemen recently cut down by the inhuman dakaits. Being thus helpless myself, what can I give the child ? I only possess the bones in ray body. Dost thou, by thy chiding and harsh words, desire me to feed her with them ?’
Her words pierced Namdev’s heartland he began to reflect how many families had been mined through his reckless and lawless career. On leaving the temple precincts, he bestowed his mare and whatever clothes he could dispense with on the Brahmans, and, to use his own words, made a friend of repentance. He took up a knife, entered the temple in anguish, and began to pray to his god. ‘O Shiv, O Mahadev, I have committed many crimes and shall have to suffer the torments of hell. How shall I find salvation ? ’ In his agony of remorse, he thrust the knife into his head, upon which blood spurted from it and fell on the idol. The ministrants of the temple ran up, snatched the knife from his hand, tied him hand and foot, and threw him outside the edifice. A crowd gathered round him and began to revile and spurn him, not for his attempt at suicide, but for having defiled the god.
[ p. 23 ]
When left alone, he thought he saw Nagnath in a vision, who thus addressed him: ‘Namdev, thou hadst better proceed to Pandharpur at once. Its patron god, Vitthal, will purge thee of thy sins, and thou shaft not only obtain salvation, but renown, as one of God’s saints in the world,’ Namdev tied up the wound in his head and started for Pandharpur, in the company of pilgrims who were proceeding thither. On the way he was tormented physically by flies which sought to settle on his wound, and mentally by the curses and reproaches of his companions.
Pundarik, who lived in the present district of Sholapur, was a saint celebrated for his devotion to his parents. It is said the god Krishan went with his cows and herdsmen all the way from Dwaraka on the margin of the Arabian Sea to behold the possessor of such filial piety. Krishan left his belongings at Gopalpur on the margin of the Bhima river, and proceeded to the dwelling of Pundarik. Pundarik by way of hospitality threw him a brick to stand on. The god accepted the offer in the hope of friendly converse with the saint, but the latter was so much engaged in the service of his parents that he had not leisure to speak to him. Krishan, disdaining to return to Dwaraka without effecting his object, rernained standing on the brick, and was named Vitthal.[2]
Long afterwards the place was the scene of the depredations of a famous robber. The renowned Emperor Salivahan, whose capital was at Paithan, south of Aurangabad, and who gave his name to an [ p. 24 ] era which preceded the Christian by fifty-seven years, sent in the fifth year of his reign an officer to rid the land of the freebooter. The officer found the god still standing in the same posture as when he had been last seen by Pundarik. The place was named Pundarikpur—shortened into Pandharpur— in memory of the saint and it gradually rose to considerable importance and became the most important place of worship in Maharashfar.[3]
The roof of Namdev’s hut was blown away by a storm while the inmates were asleep, A devout friend whom Namdev recognized as God incarnate at once proceeded to re-roof the building. This incident was versified by Namdev in the Sorath measure as follows :—
A near neighbour asked Nama, ‘ By whom didst thou liave this hut rebuilt ?
‘ If thou show me the carpenter, I will pay him twice the wages thou didst.’
‘ O my sister, my Caipenter cannot be given thee ;
Lo ! my Carpenter pervadeth all things;
My Carpenter is the Support Of the soul.
If any one want such a hut to be built, the Carpenter will require love for His wages.
When man breaketh with his family and all his friends, then the Carpenter of His own accord cometh to him.
I cannot describe such a Carpenter ; He is contained in everything and in every place.
As when a dumb man tasteth the great flavour of nectar, if thou ask him, he cannot describe it.
Hear the praises of the Carpenter, my sister—He restrained the ocean and fixed Dhru as the polar star.
Nama’s Lord recovered Sita, and bestowed Lanka on Babhikhan.’ [4]
[ p. 25 ]
The house in which Namdev and his family lived and in which in early years he plied his trade, is pointed out to the visitor. It has been greatly enlarged and modified since the saint made it his residence. The roof of the large hall is now supported by pillars. It is said that Namdev buried many of his voluminous works within the house, and forbade their exhumation under a solemn malediction.
A girl called Janabai went with her parents to visit the temple of Pandharpur. She there obtained such an access of devotion that she refused to return home, and her parents returned without her. Namdev happened to see her, and, taking an interest in her, made inquiries regarding her parents and place of residence. She replied that she had no parents but God, and no residence save His temple at Pandharpur. Namdev was moved to take compassion on her, and entrusted her to his mother. Janabai developed poetical talents, and several of her compositions are extant. She has given some particulars of Namdev’s life. [5]
The Hindus desired to test the reality of Namdev’s fast on the eleventh days of the light and dark halves of the month. They sent him a lean Brahman who asked for some food. Namdev refused as it was the eleventh day. He was fasting himself ; and he thought others ought to fast also. The pretended Brahman said that he was at his last gasp through hunger. ’ Bring me something at once.’ In short, such was the insistence of the Brahman in asking and of Namdev in refusing, that a serious difference resulted between them. Several people assembled on hearing the uproar, and advised Namdev to give something from his kitchen for the sake of peace and dismiss the Brahman. [ p. 26 ] Namdev refused, as he deemed fasting on the eleventh day the most important form of devotion. The Brahman insisted on not taking his departure till he had received something to eat. He accordingly fell down at Namdev’ s door, and pretended to die of hunger the same evening.
Persons unacquainted with the strict rules for the eleventh day’s fast began to charge Namdev with the heinous crime of having caused a Brahman’s death. Namdev neither feared nor heeded their censure. He prepared a funeral pyre, and seating himself on it beside the Brahman, ordered it to be lighted. The Brahman had no wish to immolate himself and promptly rose from the pyre and decamped. Thus was Namdev rescued from the death which he had courted. The bystanders, on seeing what had occurred, became believers, and accepted as a fact that Namdev was under the special protection of heaven.
A Brahman called Parisa Bhagwat lived in Pandharpur. He had a philosopher’s stone — paras — the word from which his name was apparently derived. His wife Kamalja one day went to the adjacent Bhima river and there met Rajabai, Namdev’s wife. The latter complained that her husband Namdev would do no work, and that in consequence the family was in very straightened circumstances. Kamalja said she possessed a philosopher’s stone which she would lend her. It would convert everything into gold, and she would no longer be indigent. Rajabai, it is said, took the philosopher’s stone and produced much gold by its agency. When Namdev heard of this, he took the stone and threw it into the river. When Kamalja remonstrated with him, he dived into the water and brought up two handfuls of gravel, which he threw in front of her. On looking she fancied that every bit of the gravel was a philosopher’s stone. On this she left her home and became a disciple of Namdev.
[ p. 27 ]
Gyandev, [6] a disciple of Vishoba Khechar, hearing of the fame of Namdev, went to Pandharpur to visit him. Gyandev was a Vedantist and pantheistic philosopher who relied on knowledge, while Namdev was thoroughly convinced of the superiority of devotion or spiritual love to one God. The Brahmans deem Vedantism more orthodox as having been originally propounded in works which they accept as divine revelation. When a man becomes a Vedantist, he rejects religious observances and believes himself saved during life. Namdev now totally repudiated this belief. At the same time there was nothing to hinder a Pantheist from consorting with a monotheist, and both saints became fast friends ; Gyandev proposed to him that they should go together to visit holy places. Namdev replied that he was in the hands of Vitthal, and his permission must first be obtained. This preliminary having been arranged, Namdev fainted at the thought of leaving his god. Gyandev tried to console him, and said that as he was an incarnation of Vitthal, the god could have no cause for regret.
In the course of their conversation Gyandev asked him to indicate the way of devotion, and explain how man could make Vitthal his own. Namdev replied, ‘The strength of contempt of the world should be in the body as an unchanging companion. Man should lay aside the difference between himself and others, and feel no anxiety for things of this world.’
The object of the saints was most probably rather a thirst for information than a desire to make a religious pilgrimage. Had the latter been their object, they would have gone first to Banaras, and endeavoured to obtain the hall-mark of orthodoxy and the favour of the great Hindu priests who resided there. The two saints set out from Pandharpur [ p. 28 ] for Hastinapur, the name by which Dihli was then knowii. The Emperor Muhammad bin Tughlak hearing of Namdev’ s influence with the people, and suspecting that it would lead to an insurrection, resolved to arrest his career. The following hymn in the Bhairo measure gives the result : —
The emperor said, ‘Ho, you Nama,
Let me see the deeds of your God.’
The emperor had Nama arrested —
‘Let me see your God Vitthal ;
Restore to life this slaughtered cow,
Otherwise I will strike off thy head on the spot.’
‘Your majesty, how can that be ?
No man can reanimate what is slaughtered.
All I could do would be of no avail ;
What God doeth taketh place.’
The emperor fell into a passion,
And set a huge elephant at Nama.
Nama’s mother began to cry —
‘Why dost thou not abandon the God of the Hindus and worship the God of the Musalmans ?
Namdev : ‘ I am not thy son, nor art thou my mother ;
Even though I perish, I will sing God’s praises.’
The elephant struck him with his trunk,
But Nama was saved by the protection of God.
The king said, ‘The Qazis and the Mullas salute me,
But this Hindu trampleth on mine honour.’
The Hindus said, ‘O king, hear our prayer;
Take Nama’s weight in gold.’
‘If I take a bribe I shall go to hell ;
Shall I amass wealth by abandoning my faith ?’
While Nama’s feet were being chained
He sang the praises of God and beat time with his hands.
The Ganges and the Jamna may flow backwards,
But Nama will repeat God’s name.
When seven gharis were heard to strike, [7] [ p. 29 ]
The Lorti of the three worlds had not yet arrived.
God afterwards came mounted on His garur,
Which beat the air with its wings. [8]
He took compassion on His saint,
And came mounted on His garur,
‘Say but the word and I will turn the earth on its side ;
Say but the word and I will upturn it altogether. [9]
Say but the word and I will restore the dead cow to life,
So that every one may behold and be convinced.’
Nama said, ‘Spancel the cow’. [10]
They put the calf to her and milked her.
When the pitcher was filled with the milk the cow gave,
Nama took and placed it before the emperor,
And the time of trouble came on him.
He implored Namdev through the Qazis and the Mullas —
‘Pardon me, O Hindu, I am thy cow.’
Nama said, 6 Hear, O monarch,
Hath this credential been exhibited by me ?
The object of this miracle is
That thou, O emperor, shouldst walk in the paths of truth and humility —
Namdev, God is contained in everything.’
The Hindus went in procession to Nama,
And said, ‘ If the cow had not been restored to life,
People would have lost faith in thee.’
The fame of Namdev remained in the world ;
He took saints with him to salvation.
All trouble and sorrow befell the revilers —
Between Nama and God there is no difference.
[ p. 30 ]
Namdev continued to preach that God and his idol were one, as holy water and ordinary water have the same appearance, as a lamp and its light, as a flower and its fragrance, as the sun and its rays, as the cloud and water, as sweetmeats and their taste, as a musical instrument and its melody, as an object and its shadow are all inseparable. His teaching again involved Namdev in serious difficulty, and he had to hastily retreat to save himself from the indignation and violence of the Muhammadans.
Namdev and Gyandev next proceeded to Kashi (Banaras), where they met the renowned Sanskrit scholars of the age. Thence they travelled to Priyag. Thence they went to Gaya, where Budha in days long past performed his heroic penance and renunciation. Thence the two saints proceeded to Ajudhia, the birthplace of the god Ram Chandar. They then went to Mathura, the birthplace of the god Sri Krishan, thence to Gokal and Bindraban, thence to Jagannath, the temple of the lord of the world, on the shore of the Bay of Bengal. From there they made the long journey to Dwaraka by the shore of the Arabian Sea, the scene of Krishan’s retreat from the battle in which he was defeated by King Jarasandh.
The two saints having thus proceeded to the utmost limit of India resolved to begin their homeward journey, and in due time reached Marwar. They tarried for a night in Kolad, probably the modern Koilath near Bikaner. Here occurred an incident which is related by the Marathi chronicler. Namdev and Gyandev both felt thirsty. There was a well in the neighbourhood, but it was very deep, and they had not the means of drawing water. It is said that Gyandev by the aid of jog science assumed a minute body, descended into the well, and quenched his thirst. He then challenged Namdev either to assume a minute body and descend into the well or drink water from his hands. Namdev, who was [ p. 31 ] no belieter in the efficacy of jog, declined the challenge, and said that if his god Vishoba were there, he would supply him with water. Upon this, it is said, the well filled to the brim with sweet water, and Namdev’ s desires were in every way gratified.
Namdev and Gyandev then departed for Rameshwar in the extreme south of India, memorable as the place whence Ram Chandar set out on his expedition to Ceylon. After seeing the temple of Oamkar the two saints proceeded to Kalapdhara and thence to Dhara. In the latter place they visited the temple of Audhiya Nagnath. When Namdev arrived at the temple, he began to sing hymns with a loud voice. This attracted a crowd of people, so that the Brahman ministrants could not gain entrance without suffering the pollution of being touched by men of lower caste, deemed unworthy of salvation. Upon this they asked Namdev to cease singing and retire to a spot at the rear of the temple where he might continue his minstrelsy if he chose. Namdev told them that in God’s temple there were no higher or lower castes, and that no one’s touch could soil those who performed heartfelt worship. The Brahmans were not convinced ; they struck Namdev, deprived him of his cymbals, and insisted that he should leave the temple. He went and sat down behind it and thus addressed God, ’ I have no asylum but in Thee, and I want nothing. If Thou show Thyself to others and not to me, lend Thine ear at least to my songs.’ He then began to sing verses full of self-reproach and abasement.
It is said that God, on hearing Namdev’s tuneful worship, was moved with kindness and compassion, and caused the temple to turn round, so that the door remained opposite His saint. Namdev has versified the incident in the following hymn in the Rag Malar :—
[ p. 32 ]
I went, 0 Lord, with laughter and gladness to Thy temple,
But while Nama was worshipping, the Brahmans forced him away.
A lowly caste is mine, O King of the Yadav, [11] why was I born a calico-printer ?
I took up my blanket, went back,
And sat behind the temple.
As Nama repeated the praises of God
The temple turned towards His saint.
Namdev returned to the subject in the following hymn in the Bhairo measure : —
Forget me not, forget me not,
Forget me not, O God !
Those misled Brahmans of the temple were all furious with me ;
Calling me a Sudar they beat me and turned me out ; what shall I do, Father Vitthal ?
If Thou give me salvation when I am dead, nobody will be aware of it ; save me now. [12]
If these pandits call me low, then, O God, Thine honour will be in the background.
Thou who art called the compassionate and the merciful, altogether unrivalled is Thine arm —
God turned round the front of the temple towards Nama, and its back towards the pandits.
From Audhiya Nagnath the party proceeded to Paithan, Salivahan’s capital, on the margin of the Godavari in the present state of Haidarabad, and thence to Deogiri, once the capital of the Maratha kingdom, in the vicinity of the famous caves of Ellora, where they met Sadhna, who hospitably entertained them, and then joined them in their peregrinations. They visited several places in the [ p. 33 ] neighbourhood of Nasik, and thence proceeded to Junagarh in the province of Kathiawar. [13]
No very important incidents are recorded relating to the saints’ homeward journey. On arriving at Pandharpur, Namdev applied himself to the composition of his abhangs. [14] His fame rapidly extended and his compositions flew from mouth to mouth. Many accepted the incidents related in them, but others entertained doubts regarding Namdev’s accuracy. On being pressed to explain the miracles he recorded and give a clear reply as to whether he himself believed in them, he asked his interrogator if he had ever heard bells ringing in his ears, and if the ringing were real or imaginary. The interrogator replied that he had heard ringing in his ears but no material bells were actually ringing. Namdev practically admitted that his record of miracles was the result of similar deception and of excessive and childlike faith. He believed in the miracles himself, and gave poetical expression to his belief as his vivid imagination prompted him.
Namdev once met an old friend who questioned him on his spiritual progress. Namdev unbosomed himself and described his mission to Vadval. His friend wondered that a man from whose hands his god had taken food, could put himself under a human guru inferior beyond all comparison to the much worshipped and much beloved Vitthal Namdev replied as follows : ’ Gods made of stone never speak. How can they heal worldly sorrows ? People suppose that idols of stone are God, but He is a real divinity and altogether different. If gods of stone can fulfil man’s desires why should he suffer sorrow and affliction ? They who worship gods of [ p. 34 ] stone are absolute idiots. Both they who preach and they who believe that gods of stone hold converse with saints have perverted intellects. They who call such gods great beings and style their priests saints are realty degraded creatures unworthy of credence. Let not their words enter thine ears. How can men be saved who cause gods to be carved out of stone, and reverently regard them during the years of their mortal lives ? Hast thou never reflected on this ? Thou hast no gods except water and stones. Go visit all the places of pilgrimage small and great and see for thyself. I have learned in Vadval that God is everywhere contained. Khechar conferred the favour on me of showing me God in my own heart.’
The Marathi chronicles show that Namdev died on the thirteenth day of the dark half of the month Asu, A. D. 1350, at the age of eighty years, and that he was buried in Pandharpur, where his head, moulded in brass on the lower step of the temple of Vishoba, is now worshipped by the populace. He has left several abhangs in which he prayed Shri Vitthal to give him a last resting-place at his feet. He was accordingly buried at the entrance of the temple of Vishoba under the lowest step of the stairs by which pilgrims ascend. He desired that his head should be trodden on by holy men and that he should acquire spiritual advantage from the dust of their feet. The idea is that when a man prostrates himself at the foot of a saint the dust of the saint’s feet purifies him. The climax of beatitude is attained when the dust of the soles of the saint’s feet falls on the worshipper’s head.
Opposite Namdev’s grave was buried one Chokhya, a Mahar of the lowest grade of Sudars — a grade so socially spurned that they might not even be touched by the higher classes. They were not allowed even in the time of Bajirao the last Peshwa (1796-1817) to travel by the same road as Brahmans, and it is [ p. 35 ] believed that they are still not allowed to do so in certain places in Southern India. To the right of the visitor is seen a representation of Ganesh the elephant-headed god of learning, carved in relief out of a rock and painted red. Near Ganesh is a shapeless block of stone said to represent Hanuman the monkey-god and ally of Ram Chandar in his expedition to Ceylon.
The temple extends far inwards and contains several apartments supported by pillars. Through these the pilgrims pass in batches controlled by police officials. Over the apartments are vent holes to prevent the pilgrims from being suffocated as they pass in large numbers. From the roof of the temple is seen a chapel sacred to Rukmani the consort of Krishan, at which principally women worship. The temple was called Raul by Bhagat Namdev. It now contains many and various jewels of great value, the offerings of pious pilgrims for the decoration and glory of Vishoba. In the necklaces are seen gold coins of Spain, Portugal, and other European countries. [15]
All Namdev’s compositions bear convincing testimony to the love he bore his favourite deity. Accordingly, the local tradition that he spent his old age at Pandharpur in the immediate vicinity of Vishoba’ s temple, and that he was buried there must be implicitly accepted.
The Sikhs and Panjabi followers of Namdev say that he was cremated at Ghuman in the Gurdaspur district of the Panjab. This belief is founded on legends current in the north of India and the records at a shrine bearing the saint’s name in Ghuman, but it is resolutely denied by his followers in Pandharpur, who assert that, owing to the fame of his sanctity, possession of his remains was claimed by many [ p. 36 ] provinces of India in the same way as the god Ram was claimed by the Budhists as one of their gurus.
The following account of Namdev in Nabhaji’s Bhagat Mal is accepted by his followers in the Panjab, though it probably refers to a different person who assumed his name. Bamdev was a calico-printer of Gopalpura near Pandharpur. He had a daughter, a virgin widow, whom he very much loved. Bamdev was himself a God-fearing man. When his daughter attained the age of twelve years, he instructed her to serve and worship God under the name of Vitthalnath, informing her at the same time that, by hearty love and devotion to Him, all her wishes should be fulfilled. She then applied herself with such zeal to the worship of God that in a short time, it is said, He even gratified her desire for a son, and she became pregnant. This became known all over the city, and to the whole tribe wherever dispersed. Evil persons rejoiced at the opportunity afforded them of defaming Bamdev. The matter eventually came to his ears, and he asked his daughter to explain her lapse of virtue. She replied, ‘ Thou toldest me that by hearty love and "devotion to God, He would satisfy all my wishes and desires. Whatever hath occurred hath been the work of God.’ Bamdev on hearing this was so overjoyed that he could hardly contain himself. When in due time a son was born to his daughter, he gave all he had in alms as a thanksgiving for the happy event. He called the child Namdev, and loved him more than his own life.
To remove the objections of evil and slanderous people to the child’s birth the Purans and other sacred books were consulted, and the words of God in the second chapter of the Bhagawat were explained to the people. There God says, that if a man worship Him with constant love He will fulfil his desires whether for temporal or spiritual [ p. 37 ] objects. In the eleventh chapter of the Bhagawat it is written, that God bestoweth even salvation on His saints, so why not the fulfilment of their worldly desires ? It would be nothing strange if He fulfilled the desires of a saint of His who prayed to Him with love.
There used to be a vigil held in Namdev’ s house on the eleventh night of the light and dark halves of the month. On one occasion on a dark night the assembled saints were thirsty, but there was no water for them to drink. No one would go to draw from the adjacent well, which was haunted. Namdev himself took a pitcher and proceeded thither with the object of satisfying his guests. A terrible and frightful ghost appeared to him. For the object of exorcism Namdev extemporized a stanza which he sang to the accompaniment of cymbals. The first lines of the stanza are as follows : —
My long-legg’d Sir, I see thy form arise,
Thy feet on earth, thy forehead in the skies.
Thine arms are long as jojans [16] to mine eyes.
It is said that God revealed Himself in the ghost, and the latter through the favour of Namdev was translated to heaven. [17]
The following parable is given by some of Namdev’s biographers. There was a banker whose riches were so great that he had himself weighed with gold which he distributed among his poor fellow citizens. He sent for Namdev at somebody’s suggestion. Namdev twice sent him word that he wanted nothing, but on the third invitation decided on going to meet him. The banker said that he had distributed a large amount of money through the city, and asked Namdev also to take some, so that he himself [ p. 38 ] might reap some advantage from the benefaction. Namdev replied, ‘ Why should I refuse anything that would be for thy benefit ? ’ At the same time he reflected that when the banker abandoned the pride of wealth, it would be well for him. He therefore wrote the letter R, being half of God’s name, [18] on a sprig of sweet basil, and told the banker to weigh gold against it. The banker asked if he were laughing at him, and said, ‘Having regard for thy holiness and kindness in visiting me, ask for what thou desirest.’ Namdev replied that laughter and pleasantry were out of place. He only required gold of the weight of the sprig of basil. Upon this the banker sent for small scales, and began to weigh the basil with a little gold. The gold was not sufficient to weigh down the sprig. The banker sent for larger scales, and finding the sprig weighed more than five or seven sets, put in six or seven mans of gold, but still the scale with the basil remained on the ground, while the scale with the gold kicked the beam. He then borrowed more gold from his tribesmen, but all would not suffice to lift the basil. At this the banker and his dependants were sore distressed. Namdev then saw that the banker had parted with his pride of wealth, but that he was still proud of the good acts he had done during his life, and it was necessary to dispel that pride also. Namdev told him to add the offering of the good acts of his life, and perhaps the scale with the sprig of basil would rise. The banker did so, but still the scale refused to move. The banker’s good acts possessed no weight. Upon this he told Namdev to take away all the gold. Namdev inquired what use it would be to him. He wanted the wealth of God’s service, to whom all the deities and the powers of both worlds were subservient. The banker grew ashamed and inspired with faith became a saint of God.
[ p. 39 ]
The following are given as specimens of the preaching of Namdev. If a man greet another outwardly, and inwardly remember his demerits, he doeth not well. It is like eating a fly in sweets. The mind is made steady by the knowledge that God is all-pervading. That is the true form of meditation. As loose women, though in the arms of their husbands, think of their lovers, as the chatrik while resting on the earth thinketh of the clouds which will give it acceptable rain-drops, as the lotuses in the lake think of the sun, as a cow while grazing in the field thinketh of her calf, as a miser while walking in the streets thinketh of his wealth, as a goldsmith while making ornaments thinketh of stealing the gold given him for the purpose, as the chakor thinketh of the moonlight, as a woman returning from a well thinketh of her pitcher while conversing with her friends, as the bee while flitting in the glade thinketh of the flower, so should man while following the ways of the world think of God in his heart.
Namdev visited the present district of Gurdaspur in the Panjab when fifty-five years of age. He first went to Bhattewal and dwelt beside a tank there, which is called Namiana in memory of him. He had two disciples — Ladha and Jalla, a carpenter — who settled down with followers of their own in the villages of Sukhowal and Dhariwal respectively. Namdev removed from Bhattewal, and took up his abode near another tank in a lonely forest, where he hoped for more leisure for prayer and meditation on God. His presence there soon attracted cultivators, and the village of Ghuman gradually sprang up over the spot where he is supposed to have been cremated. A fine domed building was erected to his memory by Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia ; and the tank was repaired by Mai Sada Kaur, the motherin-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Since then the yearly religious fair at the saint’s shrine on the [ p. 40 ] 2nd of Magh — about the 13th of January — has assumed considerable proportions. His followers in the Gurdaspur district are of the same caste and occupation as himself, reverence the Granth Sahib, and in many respects resemble the Sikhs in their usages. [19]
The following hymns of Namdev are found in the Granth Sahib. They belong to three periods of his life — boyhood when he was an idolater, manhood when he was emancipating himself from Hindu superstitions, and old age when his hymns became conformable to the ideas of religious reformers at the time, and to the subsequent teaching of the Sikh Gurus. It is on account of his later and more matured opinions that his writings have been incorporated in the sacred book of the Sikhs.
The acconnts of Namdev current in different provinces and languages of India are, for the most part, incorrect. The most trustworthy materials for his life are contained in the compiled by Mr. Tiikarflm Tatya. Tt contains many hyiime attributed to Namdev himself, but even these contain several exaggerations.
The author is indebted to Messrs. A, F. Maconochie and L. J. Mountford, governors of the Sholapur District, and to Messrs. N. G. Chandorkar and S. Sardesai, officials in the same district, for inquiries made regarding the lives of Namdev and other saints of the Dakhan. ↩︎
The rame of a much worshipped god at Pandhirpur. He is much resorted to by the low and mean and despised of all descriptions. Hence a descriptive derivation has been invented for his name, viz. vi, from vit, knowledge or understanding, th, cipher, i.e. privation, destitution, and l for lat, he takes. Thus vit, th, and l form Vitthal, and acquire the sense Receiver of the ignorant and the destitute of understanding.’—Molesworth’s Marathi Dictionary. ↩︎
Maharashtar, the country of the Marathas, bounded on the north by the Narbada river, on the south and east by the Karriatic and Telinga, and on the west by the ocean. ↩︎
Babhikhan (Vibhishan), brother of the wicked Rawan, was granted Rawan’s kingdom by Ram Chandar. ↩︎
In the courtyard of Namdev’s house is a miniature statue of the lady wearing an ample crinoline. She is reverenced as a saint both by inhabitants and pilgrims. ↩︎
Jnyandev is the correct spelling, but on account of the difficulty of pronunciation the saint is known in Northern India as Gyandev. ↩︎
Namdev got orders from the Emperor to restore the cow within a pahar or watch of three hours or suffer death. When seven of the eight gharis of the pahar had elapsed and the cow was not reanimated, Namdev felt anxious ; but when the eighth ghari was struck, it is said God presented Himself and wrought this miracle to preserve His saint from the Emperor’s wrath. ↩︎
Also translated— When the end of the watch had struck, God came riding on His garur. Vide p. 81, n. 1, infra. ↩︎
Also translated— (a) I will take thee with Me on high ; (d) I will take the earth and put it in the sky. ↩︎
Sel masel. The gyanis think that these words were intended as an anagram of Sallm Shah, but Namdev lived long prior to that monarch. The Emperor at the time was certainly Muhammad bin Tughlak. ↩︎
That is, Krishan. Namdev in the transition stage of his reformation used the word or expression Yadav Raia for God. ↩︎
The meaning of the saint’s prayer to God is— ‘Assist me in this world so that men may know I am under Thy protection.’ ↩︎
We have endeavoured to follow the saints’ itinerary as given in the Lives of Indian Saints, but it is possible that it will afterwards be re-arranged, should Namdev’s followers think it necessary. The geographical difficulties of the present itinerary are obvious. ↩︎
Hymns principally in the Marathi language. ↩︎
It is satisfactory to find that the Bombay government allows the district British officials to be ex-officio guardians of the properties of the temple. ↩︎
A jojan is four kos. A kos is a linear measure varying in different parts of India from one mile and a quarter to two miles. ↩︎
Nabhajfs Bhagat Mal. ↩︎
Ram. The vowel is not counted a letter. ↩︎
Settlement report of the Gurdaspur district by Sir L. W. Dane, now Lieutenant-governor of the Panjab. Lt.-Col. M. W. Douglas also has favoured us with some notes on Namdev. ↩︎