Sant Sakkubai

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Sakkubai!

Chapter – 1

Sant Sakkubai was born in a poor Brahmin family lived in Pandharpur.  Her parents were staunch devotees of Lord Vittobha.  This couple had a contented life; they sincerely prayed for a child to Vittobha, as they have yearned, shortly the couple blessed with the birth of a girl child who has intense devotion and faith in Lord Krishna.  She was named Sakkubai, this little girl spent her days in the recitation of Vittal Nama and worship of Lord Panduranga.  She was soaked in the pure love for Krisha from the early years of childhood.  As the years passed, Sakkubai was grown up to a beautiful young maiden.  The people in the village praised her virtues and firm devotion to Lord Krishna.

At the age of twelve Sakkubai was married  to a son of wealthy Pandit of Karaveerapuram, a small village located near the river banks of Krishna.  Sakkubai’s parents were immensely pleased to send their daughter to a rich family, at least she could spend a comfortable life in her in-law’s home for the rest of her life.  She had been living in poverty since childhood.  Her parents are not aware of the real nature of the groom’s family.  The reality was these family members were wicked and selfish, they are non-believers in God, her mother-in-law has complete control over the family, her son and husband follow the wicked command of her.  Soon after the marriage, Sakkubai was taken to the house of the groom, her mother-in-law employed her as a servant maid at the tender age of twelve; she was verbally and physically abused.  She had no support system in the family, her husband follows all the wicked command of his mother.  The whole villagers were aware of the nature of this family, they felt pity for the young bride Sakkubai.  She had to travel a long way to fetch water from the pond, grind flour, taking care of cattle, feeding cows, cooking and serving the family members.  Her days start with the veneration of Lord Krishna, an idol she was brought while leaving home after marriage, she installed the idol in her small attic and conducted worship.  Her mother-in-law and husband were not happy with it, but she continued her practice of veneration of Lord Krishna in the early hours of dawn, picking flowers from her small garden, decorating the idol with flowers and garlands, lighting the earthen lamp, worship of Ma Tulsi and offer water.  They make Sakkubai work so hard, she was served with stale food or sometimes she had to starve, in the long run, it took a toll on her health.   Though the family was so rich, they do not offer even a morsel of grain as a charity.  Her mother-in-law was dominant, she showed all her aggression on the young bride.  Sakkubai served all the members without any hesitation.  In this way, Sakkubai lived the life of a slave in her own house, she had accepted all the ill-treatment of the family members as her fate, without any complaints she continued her service, relentlessly chanting the name of Lord.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter – 10

Yogi Changdev decided to meet Gnandev in person.  He mounted on a leopard and accompanied by a large number of disciples and proceeded to the hermitage of Gnandev, people cheered in loud noises and conducted journey through the woods.  Gnandev with his siblings was sitting on the little wall could hear the reverberating noises from the wood.  Soon they realized that it is Mahayogi Changdev with his disciples arriving to meet them.  Nivriththinath expressed his view that a Mahayogi like Changdev should be received with great honor so they have to leave the place immediately.  Gnandev gave instructions to the wall to move; soon it started flying in the sky to receive the Yogi.  Changdev was mystified to see Gnandev and his siblings arriving on a wall that was flying high in the sky.  It troubled the pride of the Mahayogi, he used his Manthrasiddhi to defeat Gnandev, but the Nagasthra which was aimed at Gnandev turned into a garland and fallen on his neck, but Changdev was not willing to accept his defeat he continued his Manthrasiddhi, but none of the Asthravidhya did work.  Finally, Changdev could witness Lord Vishnu in place of Gnandev, instantly Changdev realized his grave sin, he abruptly got out of the leopard and approached Gnandev with folded hands “ Prabho, kindly forgive me.  I have failed to understand your divinity.  I was wandering in the darkness”  He has fallen at the feet of Gnandev and begged for forgiveness.  Gnandev said, “ Mahayogi, you were not wandering in the darkness, you were wandering in the woods of ego.” Mahayogi Changdev with tears overflowing revealed his desire to serve Gnandev and invited him to his village.  Yogi Changdev cursed Radha’s father for adding ghee into the fire against Gnandev.  Later, he was forgiven at the request of Gnandev.  Radha’s father who was ignorant in all his life, fallen at the feet of Gnandev and begged for forgiveness.

Sant Gnandev revealed  his decision to embrace Mahasamadhi, the people were shocked to hear the announcement.  Mahayogi Changdev expressed his desire to serve him in rest of his life, Gnandev replied “ Yogiraj, a service should not be bondage, be a light of wisdom and knowledge and spread light in the life of people who are wandering in the darkness of ignorance, alleviate their sorrows and miseries, self-less service to human is the  service to Lord Parameshwara, eventually it could lead to liberation from repeated births.”

Gnaneshwar went to seek permission to undertake Mahasamadhi, met his elder brother Nivriththinath “ Preceptor, kindly give me your permission to embrace Mahasamadhi.” Nivriththinath sadly spoke “ Gnandev, your Karma has not come to an end.” Gnandev said “ Preceptor, our Karma has no end, but our life span did not wait to fulfill all our Karma, like the green leave turns yellow and die, in place of that a new one sprout, in this way the Karma continues.  Preceptor, kindly liberate me from the worldly bondage, allow me to attain the eternal bliss.”  Nivriththinathji embraced his brother and said, “My blessings are always with you.” Sopandev and Mukthabai was in tears, Gnandev pacified them.  Gnaneshwar Maharaj was 21 years old, it was on 13^th day of Krishna paksha in the month of Karthik, as the entire villagers were witnessing with tears, Sant Gnaneshwar who was followed by his siblings moved to the cave where he was decided to undertake Mahanirvana and attained union with the Bramham.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter – 9

The people of the village Alandi was extremely happy to hear the return of Nivriththinath, Gnandev, Sopan Dev and Mukthabai.  Gangadhar Shastri made all the preparations to receive these young saints.  The whole village was decorated with flowers, people assembled from all villages to see them.  Thus Gnandev and his siblings were received with great honor to their village.  Radha’s father was displeased at the initiative taken to receive the young saints back to Alandi.  His wicked mind was racing for finding an opportunity to humiliate these young saints.  He invited the illustrious Saint Changdev in Alandi and revealed his distress upon the arrival of young saints.  He  narrated unpleasantly “Gnandev who is a son of Sanyasin discarded from the village has returned,  he has fame and great respect in the villages,  he made a buffalo recite Veda, and brought a dead man alive, in this way he is performing all supernatural activities. Gurudev, you have to teach him a lesson.” Yogi Changdev was extremely happy to hear about the capabilities of the young saint, he expressed his desire to meet Gnandev in person, but his followers discouraged him saying that it would affect his reputation, later he also felt that it is absolutely right, the young saint should come to meet an elderly Saint who has performed several years of Tapasya and achieved greatest heights in spirituality.  Yogiraj Chang Dev sent a messenger with a plain paper as an invitation to Gnandev.  The messenger arrived in the hermitage of Gnandev and handed over the letter, it was astonishing to note that there was no content in it.  The three brothers were surprised watching over the empty paper as an invitation; Mukthabai sarcastically replied: “Yogi Changdev did not attain any knowledge after a thousand and four hundred years of Tapasya.” Nivriththinath discouraged her saying “ Muktha, you are not aware of the spiritual practices of Changdev Maharaj.  He is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, he is an elderly saint lived in Siddhashrama and conducted penance for several years. He alleviated miseries, sorrows, and illnesses of several people, he is highly scholastic with great knowledge in all the Shashthras, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Veda, Vedanta, Jyothish, Dhanurvidhya, etc.. he has attained Ashtasiddhis.”  Mukthabai asked, “ How did he live for a thousand and four hundred years?” Nivriththinath replied “ Once in every hundred of years, he undertakes Nirvana, in this way he retained the soul in the body, I have learned about this illustrious Yogi from my preceptor Geheninath.”

Yogi Changdev decided to teach a lesson to Gnandev, he scared away all the  devotees of Gnandev by using his Manthrasiddhi, but Gnandev released them from the spell of Changdev with the recitation of sacred names of Lord.  It irritated Yogi Changdev, he realized that Gnandev is not an ordinary soul.  He decided to crush the fame of Gnandev.   It was believed that Gnandev who was born on the Ashtami Thithi is an incarnation of Lord Krishna.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter – 9

Radha grown up to a beautiful young maiden, she devoted her time in the veneration of Lord Krishna and recitation of his sacred names and scriptures.  One day her father informed her that they have to travel to the nearby village to visit his uncle.  He had found a groom for her and the family of the groom wanted to meet her in person.  Gangadhar Shastri exclaimed seeing the compatibility of the horoscopes of Radha and the groom.  Thus Radha and her father traveled to her uncle’s village, soon an auspicious day was chosen to meet the two families.  The family of groom found Radha who is modest, beautiful, pleasant and well-natured as a perfect daughter-in-law, they praised the virtues of Radha who was the disciple of Gangadhar Shastri and believed that it is their fortune to have Radha as their daughter-in-law.  Eventually, they have prepared to find an auspicious day to perform the marriage of the couple.

Suddenly, they could hear the reverberating sounds of Namasankeerthana, Radha rose from her seat abruptly calling out the name of Gnandev and ran off, the people assembled were suspicious, shocked to see Radha rushed inside the house with great speed.  She went upstairs and found a group of saints arriving singing in praise of Lord Hari.  She was quite sure that it is ‘Gnandev’ her dearest childhood mate, she was happy to see them all after a long time.  She called for Gnandev, but his father dragged her inside the home and shut the doors.    After this incident, the family of the groom was a little hesitant to proceed with the marriage arrangements, they started questioning the virtues of Radha and finally, they refused the marriage proposal, Gangadhar Shashtri requested the family not to take any hasty decision, but they did not listen.  Radha’s father felt humiliated, his swollen pride got thrashed, he cursed his fate and threatened Radha that if she makes an effort to meet his childhood friend Gnandev, he would kill himself.  Radha promised her father that she  will not take any initiative to meet Gnandev in her life.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter - 8

Nivriththinath, Gnandev, Sopan Dev and Mukthabai took up the journey through the villages spreading Namasankeerthana and giving lectures on scriptures.  They arrived in a village and found a young woman weeping near the lifeless body of her husband which was covered in white clothing.  She was surrounded by villagers and her elderly parents, she was consoled by his father “ Daughter, it is one of the pastimes of Lord, who are we to interfere in his amusements?” Gnandev felt miserable watching the old parents and their daughter.  He went near the dead body and asked the elderly man “Baba, whose dead body is this? How did he die?” The old man replied “ It is my son-in-law, Sacchidhanand, he was not well for the past two days.”  Gnandev moved closer to the dead body, touched on the forehead of the corpse and said “ Sath-Chith-Anand, how death could win over bliss? Sacchidhanand, you have been sleeping for long hours, wake up!”  Soon Sacchidhanand got out as if he was from a deep sleep.  The entire villagers stunned at the miracle, they cheered.  Gnandev amiably said “ It was the miracle performed by Lord Parameshwara.  I am obliged to follow the command of him.  I was following his instruction, Hail to Lord Parameshwara.”  Sacchidhanand expressed his desire to follow Sanyasashrama, but Gnandev discouraged him saying “ Sacchidhanand, you have to serve your family and the society being in the wedlock, take pleasure in the family life, you can perform all those spiritual and religious rites being in the wedlock and attain Moksha.  You need not follow Sanyasa.”  Sacchidhanand’s wife approached Gnandev and said “ Prabho, I have learned the greatest lesson from this grave incident, life on Earth is full of miseries, sorrows, and illusion, you have given new life to my husband, I owe you a great lot, happiness should be shared like knowledge, therefore kindly accept my husband as your sincere attendant, and give him an opportunity to serve you.”   Gnandev was surprised at the humble words of her “ Ma, I am happy to hear the words of supreme wisdom from you, I am seeing a different form of a woman who is the abode of kindness, chastity, love, sincerity, and sacrifice.  Today onwards your husband will be known as Baba Sacchidhanand, he would take up the responsibility to spread the essence of Gnaneshwari to the world.” Shortly, the fame of Gnandev spread all over the village, people throng from different parts of Maharashtra to visit him.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter - 7

The children returned to Alandi and met Gangadhar Shastri with the date for performing the sacred thread ceremony. Gnandev handed over the letter of Mahashasthri of Paitan,  Shasthriji received the children with great respect and offered the seat.  Soon the haughty wealthy man of the village, father of Radha brought all the Bhramins of Alandi with an intention to insult Shashthriji who received the children with great respect.  The people of the village blamed Shathriji for receiving the children born to a Sanyasin who did not follow his dharma and returned to Grihasthashrama, they called the children as Chandala, they threatened Shasthriji that they will discard him from society.  Shashthriji tried to convince the raged villagers about the seriousness of the situation, that the Mahashasthri of Paitan has given permission to perform a sacred thread ceremony for the children.  The Brahmins of Alandi laughed at the letter of Mahashasthri of Paitan, which mentioned that Gnandev is not an ordinary child, he is an incarnation of the supreme Lord.

Gnandev came out of the cottage of Gangadhar Shasthriji and asked the reason for people creating such a loud noise; Shasthriji said, “These people are not willing to accept you as Brahmin.” The children said collectively “We are Bhramin by birth, Karma, and Dharma.  Brahmin is who has the knowledge of Supreme Bramham.” The villagers forcefully removed the children from the cottage of Gangadhar Shashthriji could do nothing but witnessing the unruly crowd.  They ill-treated the children, dragged them out of the village.  Gnandev felt miserable,  he wanted to follow the footsteps of his parents, he was deeply troubled by the arrogance of the villagers, he locked himself in the house, three of his siblings were continuously knocked the door and warned Gnandev that he should  listen to Nivriththinath who is not only an elder brother but also his preceptor from childhood.  Gnandev immediately opened the door and asked Nivriththinath to forgive him, later he was pacified by Muktha, Nivriththinath and Sopandev.    Nivriththinath advised his brother “ Gnandev, we do not require any auspicious date to perform the sacred thread ceremony,  control your emotions, it is our responsibility to lead the people to the path of liberation,  therefore  write Bhagavad Gita in Marathi and impart the knowledge of Gita to people.”  Thus Gnandev wrote the glorious verse Gnanehwari, it took several years to complete, by the time all of the four were had grown up to a young adult.

Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj

Pranams at the lotus feet of Sant Gnaneshwar Maharaj!

Chapter - 6

The children arrived in the assembly of Bhramins in Paitan.  They handed over the letter given by Gangadhar Shashtri from Alandi.  The Mahashasthri asked their purpose of visit, the children earnestly introduced themselves as a native of Alandi before the assembly, further they requested is there anything mentioned in the scriptures about the atonement of a Sanyasin who returned to Grihasthashrama.  Mahashathri replied that there is no atonement required for a Sanyasin who return to Grihasthashram, they detailed about the Brahmins of Alandi who imposed punishment on their parent's death as atonement.   Mahashasthri said that it was a wholly unfair verdict imposed on their parents and it is not possible for him to reprimand those Bhramins who imposed punishments on their parents.  Gnandev requested Mahashasthri “ Our parents have sacrificed their lives for getting an auspicious day to perform sacred thread ceremony for us, we have been taught scriptures and sacred hymns all these years, kindly consider our plea.”  Finally, the great assembly of Bhramins confirmed that the children are deserved to receive an auspicious day to perform the sacred thread ceremony.  Mahashasthri advised the children to keep celibacy as a vow, strictly follow the Bhraminic rites, and follow the Varnna Ashrama dharma and maintain distance from lower castes.   Gnandev was agreed for all the above conditions but he was not willing to follow keep distance from the lower caste.  The Brahmins of Paitans have become unpleasant, Gnandev explained his viewpoint, “ we have a common rule not to harm the animals, how can we mistreat the people of low caste and declare them as untouchables? We have to leave hatred and misconception, Lord Ram consumed the fruit given by Shabari and gave her Moksha, there is supreme Lord resides as Jeevathma in Shudra, animals, Brahmins, and all the living and non-living things,  therefore we have to follow the supreme concept "Oneness in  all", same as the reflection of Sun in all the ponds.”  The Brahmins were laughed at the explanation of little Gnandev, while the discussion continued, suddenly they have seen a buffalo passing on that way, the Bhramins teased him if the soul is all-pervading, then the buffalo should be able to recite Veda, Gnandev replied “If that was the wish of Lord, definitely, the buffalo will recite Veda.” Gnandev arrived at the place where the buffalo was standing, the place was packed by villagers and Bhramins, Gnandev recited Vedic chants and the buffalo repeated the same.  The people assembled were shocked; Mahashasthri of Paitan rushed to Gnandev and received the children with great respect.  The Mahashasthri of Paitan took Gnandev in his chamber and made him seated on his throne, with tears said “ Prabho,  how can we issue date for performing a sacred thread ceremony to a Bhramam who is the knower of All, we are not qualified to do that, you are supreme Bhramam, kindly forgive us for our demeanor.”