Sant Eknath-- Part I

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Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

Sant Eknath was born about 600 years ago in Paithan in

Maharashtra. His great-grandfather Bhanudas had always

prayed to God that he should have a descendant who

through faith and devotion would have the power even

to call God to his side; Bhanudas led a very pious

life, and so did his son Chakrapani and grandson

Suryapani. Their life of devotion was to be answered

with the birth of Suryapani's son 'Eknath'. But

strange are the ways of Fate; when Eknath was only 1

1/2 years old, Eknath's mother died. Suryapani was

devastated; he thought how is this boy going to be of

any significance? soon after his birth, his mother has

died? But he resigned himself to God's will and

continued with life. When Eknath was 6 yrs old,

Suryapani came down with severe fever; little Eknath

was in his grandma's lap listening to his grandad's

story and his father lying in a cot seriously ill.

Soon grandad's story-telling stopped; Eknath sat up to

see both grandparents crying and neighbors coming in

to the house and standing around silently. He asked

his grandad why they were crying? Chakrapani told him

that his father was dead, everyone would have to die

one day and go where his father had gone; so Eknath

replies by saying that if everyone goes there then I

will also go there when I die and then I will meet

dad; so then why cry?

Both grandparents devoted their energies in imparting

spiritual education to Eknath; When taught Matru-devo

bhava, Pitru-devo bhava, he would say but I don't have

a mother or father? so whom should I treat as God? and

they said, God is the all-knowing father of all of us;

look up to Him and bow to Him; do His work and live a

life dedicated to Him.

Eknath was then assigned to learn at the feet of a

learned Brahmin; but by age 14 he had learnt

everything that the learned teacher could teach him.

He absorbed everything like a blotting paper.

Sometimes the teacher would hear Eknath's responses

and wonder if he is teaching him the same thing twice?

sometimes he would be at a loss to answer Eknath's

questions! Then one day he told Chakrapani that he had

taught the boy everything he knew.

Eknath became worried--his teacher would not teach him

anymore; he was not yet ready to teach. What should he

do? he would go and pray everyday for guidance in the

Shiv temple near his house. One day he heard a voice

asking him to go to Devgiri and become a disciple of

Shri Janardan Swami. Eknath was delighted--God had

answered his prayer and directed him to a Guru. But

then he thought of his grandparents-- how could he

leave them? would they let him go? he so badly wanted

to learn more and devote himself to God realization.

So he decided to take off in the middle of the night.

 

He travels on foot to Devgiri; meantime early morning

his grandparents wake up to find him missing; the old

folks cry and search for Eknath;then they realize that

his old teacher is also not to be found and console

themselves thinking that teacher and student have gone

off somewhere. It is just a coincidence that the

teacher had taken off on a teerth-yatra around the

same time that Eknath is found missing; but that is

sufficient for the grandparents; they decide to await

the teacher's return, sure that Eknath would come home

with him.

 

Eknath reaches Devgiri fort and is accepted by

Janardan swami as a long-awaited disciple. Janardan

swami was an epitome of Gnyan and Karma; he was

spiritually evolved and worked at the same time as a

Senapati, a commander in the Mughal army; Janardan

swami was a mixture of Brahminic as well as Kshatriya

qualities.

Eknath takes up his new role with his usual zeal;

total commitment, total enthusiasm and energies

devoted to his Guru. He gets trained in every aspect

of running the place, including horse-riding, warfare,

and daily administration. There is a story of how his

Guru puts him in charge of the accounts of the place

and one day tells him that there would be an

inspection of the account books; Eknath sits down to

check his books to make sure that everything is fine

and discovers that there is a difference of eight

annas. He is anxious and gets to work going over all

the transactions of the previous weeks; evening turns

to night and he is still sitting with it and late in

the night he discovers the problem and is delighted

and shouts--I got it, I got it!His guru hears him, and

comes out to see him in the middle of his books in the

middle of the night. Guru tells him " you are so happy

because you fixed the 8 anna problem; if you showed

the same diligence and devotion to realizing God, what

would be your happiness? " It is one year since you

came to me. I am happy with your work. I bless you

that you may realize God soon.

This increases Eknath's joy. He doubles his efforts at

serving his Guru. One Thursday,the Guru, as was his

habit goes up into a nearby hill to meditate, leaving

Eknath in charge of affairs at the fort.The fort is

soon attacked by enemies; but Eknath, not wishing to

disturb his Guru, dons his Guru's dress and headgear

and sword, mounts a horse and leads the men to fight

the enemies. They soon flee, unable to withstand

Eknath's response. Eknath then goes back to his usual

role. When the Guru returns, he is surprised to see

messengers of the Emperor come with gifts for his

victory. Eknath explains about the battle that he was

involved in, saying that he was the mere instrument--

all the strength and bravery were the Guru's. The Guru

is speechless and impressed By Eknath's devotion.

Eknath thus spend 6 years with the Guru becoming more

and more adept just like his Guru--brave and wise,

devoted and balanced in his outlook towards life.

Eventually he is also able to go deep into meditation

and have a vision of God; at that point the Guru says

that Eknath can no longer continue with him; he

suggests that Eknath go to a far-off mountain where

there is a Markandeya temple and to engage in constant

meditation and service to God. Eknath doesn't want to

leave, but the Guru insists and finally says that he

can comeback when something surprising happens there.

 

Eknath takes off to the mountain and gets into a

regular routine of bath,meditation, prayers and other

austerities.He eats frutis and sleeps on a stone slab.

One day a cowherd passing by sees him and then comes

everyday with a bowl of milk for him (God takes care

of his devotees).One day the cowherd comes early and

is terrified to see a cobra sitting over the

meditating Eknath with his hood spread above his head

thus protecting him from the suns's rays. The cowherd

screams and drops the milk bowl, thus arousing Eknath;

but in the meantime, the cobra slides away; the

cowherd explains what had happened. Eknath realizes

that was the reason why he had not felt the sun's

harshness all these days; the cobra must have been

providng shade all the time. He then thinks this is a

sufficiently surprising incident and now he can go

back to his Guru.

 

His Guru is pleased to hear about the incident and

says that the time has come for you to take leave; you

can now head out on your own and teach people about

God and impart spiritual values to people. Eknath

refuses to leave his Guru; finally the Guru also joins

him and together they set out; when they reach the

banks of the Godavari, they pay homage at the samadhi

of Sant Nivrittu-nath(Sant Dnyaneshwar's brother);

there the Guru persuades Eknath to narrate the

Bhagavatham; by Guru's grace, Eknath is inspired to

speak; soon crowds gather around them and the

listeners are transported to a different state. The

Guru then instructs Eknath to write a 'Bhasya' on the

Bhagvath and departs to Devgiri (Eknaathi Bhagvath is

a very popular work in Maharashtra). Eknath then

travels far and wide with his lectures, everywhere he

goes, he inspires people with his faith and knowledge.

 

Back home his old old grandparents, Chakrapani and

wife, are still waiting...waiting when they will see

their dear child before they close their eyes for

good. Around this time the old teacher of Eknath also

comes back from his teerth-yatra.Chakrapani rushes to

him for news of Eknath but that soul is as much in the

dark as them. But the teacher remembers Eknath's

longing to learn and that he had enquired about

Janardan swami and so he heads out to Devgiri; there

Janardan swami explains all that happened in recent

years and then hands him a letter for Eknath saying

that he should be soon reaching home after his

travels.

Accordingly when the teacher comes back home,he finds

Eknath has reached home; but Eknath has different

plans. He is now reunited with his dear grandparents

and for them life has come a full circle; their

grandson has come home and that too as no ordinary

person but as a learned and respected devotee eager to

share his wealth of knowledge. But now he again wishes

to go back to his Guru; at this point the teacher

hands him the letter from the Guru which says " for

twelve years your grandparents have waited for you;

this is the end of your journey; serving them in their

old age is now your teerth-yatra. You need not go

anywhere! "

Thus as per Guru's instructions Eknath starts his life

in Paithan....

 

(To be continued....in...Part II)

 

Translated from Shri Pandurang Shastri Athavale's

'Shraadh' in Hindi, a homage to the great people who

have graced our motherland.

 

Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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