Hindu Article-Devotional tradition

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Devotional tradition

 

 

CHENNAI OCT.13 . The saints of the Bhakti (devotional)

tradition have demonstrated through their lives that

it is possible for a person to realise God even while

actively engaged in worldly life if he remembers God

always and dedicates all his actions to Him. When

saints have chalked out such a simple way there is no

need for anyone to despair that spiritual life is

difficult for laypeople. The compositions of the

saints of Maharashtra, devoted to Panduranga

(Vitthala), known as Abhangas, have become the core of

the Kirtan tradition of congregational worship of the

Varkari Sampradaya. They have inspired and enabled

generations of devotees to be liberated from the

quagmire of rebirths by singing the Divine name and

the Lord's glory. Another simple but very effective

guidance given by them in their Abhangs was the

importance of cultivating the company of saints and

devotees, as in such an environment the mind would be

constantly focussed on God without distractions of the

temporal world, said Sri Thukaram Ganapathi in his

Harikatha.

 

The songs of this tradition are simple yet couched in

profound truths about the practical aspects of

spiritual life. The lives of these saints have been

documented in the Bhakta Vijaya of Mahipati.

Pandharpur, the centre of the Vitthala faith, which is

a famous pilgrim centre, is a testament to the

efficacy of the Divine name to realise God. To this

day this sacred place reverberates with the strains of

the songs sung by devotees and chant of the name

"Vitthala". Namadeva in one of his compositions

attests that Vitthala is everything to him— name,

place, deity, preceptor, pilgrimage and relation.

 

He was totally absorbed in his engagement with God

that he saw Him everywhere and in everyone. There is

an oft-quoted incident in his life about how his

family had left food for him when they were away from

home. Remaining engrossed in chanting Vitthala's name

four days passed without Namadeva touching even a

morsel. And, when a dog attracted by the food ran away

with it the saint was concerned that it had not taken

the butter along with it and hence might choke. So he

ran behind the dog, caught it and forced it to eat the

butter also. In his eyes the dog was none other than

Vitthala. His humble dwelling was an open house for

all saints and devotees who visited this sacred place.

Janabai has recounted how the Lord once danced when he

sang before a congregation of saints in the temple.

 

copy right: The Hindu daily

 

 

 

 

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