SERVE THE LIVING TO SERVE THE LORD (LORD VITHALA)

ओम जय हरि विट्ठल नमो नमः

Om Jai Hari Vitthal Namo Namaha

I bow to you Lord Vithala

Once upon a time there was man called Pundalik who decide to go on a pilgrimage to the holy city of Kashi (present Varanasi). He prided himself as being a devout person and had undertaken the journey to show his devotion to the Lord. He hoped that this pilgrimage would please the Lord and that he would receive divine blessings.

Though Pundalik worshipped the Lord he was not a kind or caring person. In fact he would ill-treat his own old parents, Janudev and Satyavati. His parents suffered under their son’s cruel and demanding behavior. He forced them to do all the work and was unkind to them. They were old and as they had nowhere else to live, but with their son, they had to endure his heartless behavior.

Pundalik had planned the pilgrimage to Kashi in order to worship at the holy temples and take a dip in the sacred river Ganga. Pundalik believed that a bath in the divine waters of the Ganga would wash away all his sins. He was certain that the Gods would bless him for undertaking this journey to Kashi.

It was a long journey to Kashi and Pundalik needed to make several stops along the way to rest and nourish himself. One day as dusk approached Pundalik noticed an ashram and decided to halt and rest for the night at the ashram before proceeding further. It was the ashram of a Saint named Kukkut.

Pundalik walked into the ashram and seeing the pious saint said to him, “Your holiness I wish to rest at your ashram tonight. I will leave in the morning as I am on my way to Kashi.”

Saint Kukkut nodded his assent.

Pundalik continued, “As I leave early tomorrow could you help me with directions to Kashi?”

The simple saint shook his head and replied, “I have never been to Kashi so I cannot help with directions.”

Pundalik laughed out aloud and in a scornful manner said, “You are supposed to be a saint and you have never visited Kashi? Surely if you are truly a devotee of the Lord you should have by now gone to the most sacred of all holy places, Kashi?”

Saint Kukkut remained quiet and did not say a word.

Pundalik smirked and muttered under his breath, “This man is no saint. How could he be a man of God when he hasn’t even bothered to pay homage at the most revered of all Hindu pilgrim centres?”

Then mindless of his rude behavior towards a great saint, he settled down to sleep. He was in deep sleep when all of sudden he was awakened by the voices of some women. He opened his eyes and walked towards the sounds. To his astonishment he found three women, in dirty clothes, sprinkling water all over the ashram and cleaning it thoroughly. He hid behind a pillar and watched them with curiosity. Once they had cleaned the whole ashram they entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. Pundalik waited for them to come out. When they came out, the sanctum sanctorum was gleaming clean but what was even more surprising was that the three women were now dressed exquisitely in fine, clean garments and adorned with precious jewels.

Pundalik could not contain his curiosity and coming out from behind the pillar he asked them, “Who are you?”

The women replied in unison, “We are the Holy rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati we come at early dawn to clean the ashram.”

Pundlik could not believe his ears. He thought to himself, “Why would Goddesses Ganga, Yamuna and Sarasvati come to this ashram to clean the abode of a man who has not even bothered to offer worship at the holiest of all place – Kashi?”

Incredulously he enquired, “Why do you come to clean this ashram?”

The Goddesses replied, “We come to clean Saint Kukkut’s ashram because of his purity, piousness, devotion and spirituality.”

Pundalik found this hard to believe and said, “But this saint has not even been to Kashi? How can he even be regarded as saintly when he has never been on a pilgrimage to the holiest of all cities? On the other hand I worship every day and now have undertaken the hardship of the long journey to Kashi to worship at the Lord’s feet.”

The Goddesses Ganga responded, “Do you think that by merely visiting holy shrines and going on religious pilgrimages that you are being devout and spiritual. Do you think that devotion to the Lord is attained by doing expensive rituals or visiting temples?”

Goddess Yamuna continued, “You ill-treat your parents and they being old have no other recourse but to bear with your unkindness. Sage Kukkut is not only devoted to God, he was devoted to his parents too. He served, loved and nursed them through ill-health throughout their lives. He cared for them faithfully and with true sincerity. Devotion to God also entails performing your worldly duties and responsibilities with honesty and diligence. If you truly love God you cannot be cruel to any of God’s creations.”

“Saint Kukkut does not need to offer obeisance’s at any temple or undertake any pilgrimage,” said Goddess Sarasvati, “He has accumulated more than enough virtue to earn Moksha. It is because of the purity of his devotion that we come down to earth to serve Saint Kukkut.”

Pundalik went silent. His thoughts went back to his elderly parents. He realized that everything the Goddess’s had said about him were true. His old parents were forced to do all the household chores. He had never once considered the difficulties they had in performing the heavy household chores at their age. He had treated them with disrespect. He had never ever thought of their needs or comforts. Pundalik felt ashamed of his actions. He began to realize the errors of his ways. For the first time he regretted his heartless behavior towards his parents.

Instantly he decided to return home. Entering the house he fell at his parents’ feet and begged their forgiveness. He then delighted his parents, Janudev and Satyavati, by suggesting that they accompany him on his trip to Kashi. Through the journey he administered to their comforts and made sure that they did not face any difficulties. After the pilgrimage even on returning home Pundalik, continued to take loving care of his parent’s. He had become a changed man. He was now both a devoted son and a devoted servant of God. He now served his parents just as he served the Lord. Pundalik saw God in his aged parents. He had begun to see divinity in all God’s creations.

Lord Krishna was moved by Pundalik’s sincere devotion to his parents. He saw that Pundalik with diligent service had purified his mind and heart. However the Lord decided to put Pundalik’s devotion to test. Lord Krishna appeared at Pundalik’s home. Pundalik was busy serving his parents the noonday meal. When Pundalik turned for a moment towards the door he noticed the Lord waiting there but he was so intent on completing the tasks for his parents that he continued with his work. However, before turning back to his fulfil his duties he passed on a brick to the Lord to stand on and requested, “Please wait my Lord I will attend to you once I have completed my duty towards my elderly parents.”

Pundalik had reached such a stage in his attitude to service that it no longer matter to him whether the guest at his door was a mere mortal or God Himself, To him all manifestations were nothing other than the Lord. At that moment all his attention was focused on fulfilling his duty as a son..

As soon as he had finished ministering to his parents, Pundalik rushed across to Lord Krishna, who was waiting patiently at the door. Pundalik fell at the Lord’s feet and said, “Lord forgive me for having made you wait.”

Lord Krishna smiled at him and said, “You have won my heart through your devotion to your parents. As I am very pleased with you I wish to grant you a boon.

Pundalik said “My lord, what more can I ask for when I have had the good fortune of You, my Lord, having waited so patiently for me, a mere mortal? There can be no greater blessing than this for me. I have nothing more to ask of you. You have already fulfilled all my desires.”

However Lord Krishna insisted that Pundalik ask for a boon. Pundalik knowing that he had been truly blessed wanted others too to get the opportunity to receive the Lord’s grace. He requested, “Lord the only boon I wish to ask of you is that you remain here on earth to look after and care for all your devotees.”

Lord Krishna readily agreed.

It is said that on that day the form of the Lord came into existence on its own - it is Swayambhu. In this form he came to be known as Vithoba or the Lord who stands upon a brick. Vithoba is also known by many other names, including: Vitthala, Panduranga, Pandharinath, Hari and Narayan.

The image of Vithoba in the Pandharpur temple, which is the main centre of worship of Vithoba, is 3 feet 9 inches tall and is made of black basalt stone. He stands alone on a brick, bare-chested and barefooted. Below his waist he wears a Pitambara, the silken yellow cloth that we find worn by Lord Krishna. His hands are placed on his hips with his elbows turned outwards to indicate to his devotees that he has reduced the Bhava Sagara (the ocean of worldly existence) to just waist level and hence they should cross it without any fear. He wears a Vaishnava Tilak, (V shaped), on his forehead, the sacred thread across his shoulder and a lingam-shaped crown on his head. On his ears are fish shaped earrings. It is said that once a poor fisherman came to visit Panduranga. Being exceedingly poor he had nothing to offer the Lord except the fresh fish he had caught early that morning. However, as the priests of the temple would not permit any non-vegetarian food in the temple, they firmly refused him entry.

The poor fisherman with tears in his eyes pleaded, “Revered sirs I have nothing but these fish to offer the Lord. I have no money but I do wish to make an offering. Please permit me to worship lord Vithoba.”

The stern priests would have none of this and ordered him to leave immediately.

However Lord Vithoba had heard his devotee’s plea. He saw the love and sincerity in the poor man’s heart. The Lord stepped out of his image and going up to the fisherman accepted the fish that the fisherman held in his outstretched hand.

Turning to the now astonished priests he said, “It matters little what my devotees offer me. All that matters is the love and devotion with which they make the offering.”

The Lord then transformed the fish into earrings and they appear in all his images as testimony of the Lords undying love for his devotees.

Early every morning the Lord of Pandharpur is offered pancabhisheka, a bath with milk, yogurt, ghee, honey, and sugar water. After the bath, the Lord is meticulously dressed and profusely garlanded. Finally, He is offered a mirror in which to view His appearance. Devotees are permitted to witness the elaborate bathing ceremony and thereafter permitted entry into the sanctum sanctorum to worship Lord Vithoba and touch His lotus feet

At Pandharpur behind the Vithoba shrine is the shrine of his beautiful wife Rukmini. Though at Pandharpur the Lord stands alone, at other temples his wife Goddess Rukmini stands by his side.

LIFE LESSONS

1. From Pundalik we must learn that prayer and worship are meaningless if we are unkind and mean.

2. We too like Pundalik must learn to serve and care for our parents with love.

3. The Lord loves and blesses those who look after his creations be they human, animal or plant.

4. From Pundalik we can learn generosity - when the Lord granted him a boon he did not ask for anything for himself but for all humanity.