Sant Eknath (1533-1599)
Sant Eknath Maharaj, considered the Spiritual successor to the work of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Namadev, was a great Saint from Maharashtra. Sant Eknath
was known for His spiritual prowess as well as His immense efforts in
awakening people and safeguarding Dharma. Sant Eknath id the author of
numerous hymns and books on Bhakti and Spirituality, including the
famous Eknathi Bhagwat, the spiritual essence of the Bhagavad Geeta and
his magnum opus Bhavarth Ramayan.
Purpose of birth
During the time of Sant Dnyaneshwar
and Sant Namadev in Maharashtra, Devgiri was a prosperous and content
kingdom under the king Shree Ramdevrai Yadav. Unfortunately after the
death of the king Devgiri fell into the hands of Muslim invaders. The
reformative and uplifting work started by Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant
Namdev came to a stop. The war and foreign invasions had taken a heavy
toll in the life of the people. People were aimless and resigned to the
drudgery of being slaves to invaders. For nearly 200 years, this was the
state of the people, the nation and Dharma, till a bright soul took
birth to awaken the masses.
5 year old Eknath leaves home to seek a Guru
Little Eknath had been impressed upon the importance of the Gurucharitra. He was constantly asking others on how he could meet His Guru.
The learned men around him were baffled and told him to ask the river
Godavari. So the very next day little Eknath went to the river and asked
his question with great earnestness and urgency. And the infinitely
compassionate mother answered! ‘Your Guru is waiting in the fort of Daulatabad’, little Eknath was told. He promptly left home for Daulatabad!
The Guru meets the Disciple
Janardan swami
was the head of the fort of Daulatabad. He used to go on leave every
Thursday. It was a fateful day, when 5 year old Eknath who was
resolutely climbing the steps of the fort, came across Janardan Swami.
Janardan Swami welcomed the boy with the word ‘I have been expecting
you’. The Guru always waits and knows when a worthy disciple will come
along. Janardan Swami entrusted the task of making preparations for puja
to little Eknath, who performed it with great devotion, which pleased
the Guru immensely. Janardan swami took young Eknath
Earnest cry to Jagdamba mata to help awaken the people
The Devgiri fort was under the
Nizam rule. Sant Eknath who lived nearby saw that the people silently
suffered the excesses of the rulers, while having resigned to their fate
of being enslaved. The people were alive because they were not dead
already! Sant Eknath decided that he needed to start a mass movement for
awakening the people. He earnestly prayed to the Kulswamini
Jagdambamata to manifest and bless the work of awakening the people.
(Vishwapandhari Year 1, Issue 2, page 13)
The masses awaken
Slowly but surely, the people
began to realise that they were living a caged life. Sant Eknath’s
efforts bore fruit when the demoralised people started expressing their
dissatisfaction against the foreign rulers.
Kshatriya Dharma
दया तिचे नाव भूतांचे पालन ।
आणिक निर्दाळण कंटकांचे ।।
Meaning : Kindness and compassion for the people |
Strict and fiery towards unjust ||
One fateful day, Janardan Swami was deep in Samadhi, when an attacking army raised an alarm. Eknath Maharaj
did not hesitate, despite not being a combatant, he donned the armour
and stepped out to fight the invaders. He had only one thought on his
mind, that his Guru Janardan Swami’s Samadhi state should not be disturbed. So Eknath Maharaj fought valorously for 4 hours and drove the invaders away.
Eknath Maharaj was lauded for
his bravery. He proved that the Guru and Shishya are one! Janardan
Maharaj was not informed of anything of this. When Swamiji came to know
of this he felt a sense of fulfilment for his disciple. The disciples
such as Eknathji Maharaj who can wipe out the difference between a Guru
and his disciple and can do the work of Guru are extremely rare so to
say. (The life of Eknath Maharaj by Laxman Ramchandra Pangarkar Ramyakatha Publications Pune – 2, pg 62 & Sanatan Prabhat 3.8.2006)
Books in vernacular to reach out to the masses
Eknathji had a tremendous
respect for mother tongue. For the sake of uplifting of common people he
wrote simple stories, Kirtans or stories of Goddesses, Prayers to
Goddesses for fulfilment of desires, on the Art of Dance etc. He also
wrote a book on Ramayana to give the people of what Ram Rajya or an
Ideal State is.
Bhavarth Ramayan
The historical rendition of the
life of Lord Rama was re-written by Eknath Maharaj in a volume
comprising of 7 divisions, 297 chapters and nearly 40000 stanzas called
‘Ovis’. Eknath Maharaj endeavoured to explain the spiritual meaning of
the life of Rama.
‘Aja’ is Parbrahma or Parmatma. From this came Dasaratha or the 10 sense organs. The personal self (atma)
in the form of Ram took birth through Dasaratha. The Avatars or
Incarnations of God had the primary object of satisfying the desires and
aspirations of Gods. Dasrath had 3 Queens – Kaushalya symbolising
beneficent knowledge (Sadvidya), Sumitra symbolising Pure knowledge
(Shuddhabuddhi) and Kaikayi symbolising ignorance (Avidya).
Kaikayi’s maid Manthara symbolised harmful knowledge (Kuvidya). Ram the
Blissful had 3 brothers. Laxman meaning self-knowledge (Atmaprabodh),
Bharat meaning sentimental (Bhavartha) and Satrughna meaning self
supporting (Nij-nirdhar). Then again Vishwamitra meaning rationality (Vivek) and Vasistha meaning thoughtful (Vichar). From latter two Ram learnt the scriptures as well as the art of war. Ram and Sita symbolise God and His Intelligence. Their unity is absolute. (Bharatiya Sanskruti Kosha 6, page 506)
Eknath Maharaj awakens pride for
Bhagwath Dharma and good character in the people
We are fortunate that Eknath
Maharaj bestowed upon us the unadulterated version of Dnyaneshwari. From
his Bhavarth Ramayana we can witness the sorry state of affairs of
Maharashtra under the Islamic kings; the social, political and economic
downfall of the people at the time. Even the religious circles had
deteriorated to unprecedented levels of hypocrisy. Sant Eknath Maharaj
castigated these charlatans of religion in no uncertain manner. Some of
them took lessons from Eknath Maharaj and worked to improve themselves
and tried to really work for the upliftment of society. Eknath Maharaj
proved to the society that via the medium of ‘Bhakti’ one can be a
regular householder as well as spiritually evolved. Eknath Maharaj’s
life showed the people that the worldly pursuits can also be Spiritual
pursuits. He raised the aspirations of people and instilled pride into
them towards Bhagwat Dharma and to build strong characters. However it
was unfortunate that before the ideas and teachings of Eknath Maharaj
could be properly instilled into the hearts and minds of people,
invasions by foreigners diverted the peoples efforts and His efforts
were shortlived.
– Shri Pravin Kavthekar, ‘Santkrupa’ May 2007.
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