Panduranga Vitthal at Pandharpur..Read it

Vithal, or Vitthal, or Vithoba, or Pandurang (a form of Krishna) is worshipped in some temples in Kerala. Vittala's original temple is at Pandharpur, Maharashtra. It is located 65 km west of Solapur, on the banks of the river Bhimarathi also known as Chandrabhaga. Phandarpur is referred as Pandaripuram by GSBs in Kerala. The name Vithoba means Father Vitthala. Vitthala is said to have been derived from the word Vishnu in Kannada. Panduranga is a sanskritized form of Pandarga, the old name of Pandharpur.

Story of Panduranga Vittala

It is said that the devotee Pundalik founded Pandharpur. His father Janudeva and mother Satyavati lived in a thick forest called Dandirvan. Pundalik was a devoted son but soon after his marriage he began to ill-treat his parents. To escape from this misery, the parents decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi. When Pundalik's wife learnt about this, she also decided to go. She and her husband joined the same group of pilgrims on horseback. While the son and his wife rode on horseback, the old couple walked. Every evening when the party camped for the night, the son forced his parents to groom the horses and do other jobs. The poor parents cursed the day they decided to go on a pilgrimage. Soon the party reached the ashrama of the great sage Kukkutswami. There they decided to spend a couple of nights. They were all tired and soon fell asleep-except Pundalik who could not sleep. Just before daybreak he saw a group of beautiful, young women, dressed in dirty clothes, enter the ashrama, clean the floor, fetch water and wash the swami's clothes. Then they entered the inner room of the ashrama, and came out in beautifully clean clothes and passing near Pundalik, they vanished.

Next night he saw the same sight again. Pundalik threw himself at their feet and begged them to tell who they were. They said they were Ganga, Yamuna and other holy rivers of India in which the Pilgrims bathed and washed off sins. Their clothes became dirty by the sins of the bathing pilgrims.

"And because of your ill-treatment of your parents," they said, "You are the greatest sinner."

This brought about a complete change in him and he became the most devoted son. Now the parents' rode the horses while the son and his wife walked by their side. By their love and affection, the son and his wife urged the parents to give up the pilgrimage and return to Dandirvan.

One day it so happened that Lord Krishna, the King of Dwarka, while feeling lonely, was reminded of his early days in Mathura. He particularly remembered his sports with the milkmaids, the cowherd boys, and his love, Radha. Though she was dead, he longed to see her again. By his divine powers he brought her back to life and seated her by his side. Just then his queen, Rukmini, entered the room. When Radha did not rise to pay her respect, Rukmini left Dwarka in anger and hid herself in Dandirvan forest. After some days, Lord Krishna set off in search of Rukmini. He first went to Mathura, then to Gokul. He met the milkmaids and cowherd boys. They too joined in the search. They went to Mount Govardhan in her search.

At last they reached the banks of the river Bhima in the Deccan. Krishna left his companions at Goplapura, and he himself entered Dandirvan forest alone in search of her. At last he found her and managed to calm her. Krishna and Rukmini came to Pundalik's ashrama.

But at that time Pundalik was busy attending to his parents. Though he knew Lord Krishna had come to see him, he refused to pay his respect to the god before his duty towards his parents was done. He, however, threw a brick outside for lord Krishna to stand upon. Impressed by Pundalik's devotion to his parents, Lord Krishna did not mind the delay. Standing on the brick he waited for Pundalik. When Pundalik came out and begged God's pardon, Lord Krishna replied that far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his parents. Lord Krishna then ordered him to worship Vithoba, or God who stood upon a brick.

An imposing temple was built at the place where Krishna and Pundalik had met. Inside the temple stands Krishna's image on a brick. By his side stands the image of Rukmini.This temple covering a vast area has a total of six gates.

Link:- http://www.gsbkerala.com/panduranga.htm

Originally posted by: prachi_poorvi

Wow thanks for the information raj!!

I didn't know that Radha died and Lord Krishna brings her back to life ....

The God who stood on brick..hmm...interesting info

Prachi thats the pose Shri Krishna stood on brick, keeping his hands on his waist and waiting for pundalik to get free and serve him...there is a beautiful bhajan on vitthal....i will post them later..

Originally posted by: set_raj

Prachi thats the pose Shri Krishna stood on brick, keeping his hands on his waist and waiting for pundalik to get free and serve him...there is a beautiful bhajan on vitthal....i will post them later..

Ya i saw it..

Originally posted by: prachi_poorvi

Ya i saw it..

there are some beautiful marathi bhajans, i will try to post hindi ones..simple and sweet bhajans of vitthala...

Originally posted by: set_raj

there are some beautiful marathi bhajans, i will try to post hindi ones..simple and sweet bhajans of vitthala...

Ok..do post the bhajans....

Hey raj thanks to posting pundaliks story here. Pandurang is our kul daivat (lord of family). & every year iam going pandharpur to take darshan of panduranga. & This year also iam going to pandharpur on next month.

GOD'S GRACE:-

Shri Eknath was an accomplished personality. He had purified his body by penance in the early age according to the directions of his Guru. He was graced by his guru, Janardan swami and Shri Eknath himself got the "darshan" of Lord Krishna while he was performing penance on the Sulabha mountain. Even the God therefore tried to serve this holy personality in some form or the other and it is believed that the God served Shri Eknath Maharaj in all for thirty six years in three different forms.

Originally posted by: set_raj

Vithal, or Vitthal, or Vithoba, or Pandurang (a form of Krishna) is worshipped in some temples in Kerala. Vittala's original temple is at Pandharpur, Maharashtra. It is located 65 km west of Solapur, on the banks of the river Bhimarathi also known as Chandrabhaga. Phandarpur is referred as Pandaripuram by GSBs in Kerala. The name Vithoba means Father Vitthala. Vitthala is said to have been derived from the word Vishnu in Kannada. Panduranga is a sanskritized form of Pandarga, the old name of Pandharpur.

Story of Panduranga Vittala

It is said that the devotee Pundalik founded Pandharpur. His father Janudeva and mother Satyavati lived in a thick forest called Dandirvan. Pundalik was a devoted son but soon after his marriage he began to ill-treat his parents. To escape from this misery, the parents decided to go on a pilgrimage to Kashi. When Pundalik's wife learnt about this, she also decided to go. She and her husband joined the same group of pilgrims on horseback. While the son and his wife rode on horseback, the old couple walked. Every evening when the party camped for the night, the son forced his parents to groom the horses and do other jobs. The poor parents cursed the day they decided to go on a pilgrimage. Soon the party reached the ashrama of the great sage Kukkutswami. There they decided to spend a couple of nights. They were all tired and soon fell asleep-except Pundalik who could not sleep. Just before daybreak he saw a group of beautiful, young women, dressed in dirty clothes, enter the ashrama, clean the floor, fetch water and wash the swami's clothes. Then they entered the inner room of the ashrama, and came out in beautifully clean clothes and passing near Pundalik, they vanished.

Next night he saw the same sight again. Pundalik threw himself at their feet and begged them to tell who they were. They said they were Ganga, Yamuna and other holy rivers of India in which the Pilgrims bathed and washed off sins. Their clothes became dirty by the sins of the bathing pilgrims.

"And because of your ill-treatment of your parents," they said, "You are the greatest sinner."

This brought about a complete change in him and he became the most devoted son. Now the parents' rode the horses while the son and his wife walked by their side. By their love and affection, the son and his wife urged the parents to give up the pilgrimage and return to Dandirvan.

One day it so happened that Lord Krishna, the King of Dwarka, while feeling lonely, was reminded of his early days in Mathura. He particularly remembered his sports with the milkmaids, the cowherd boys, and his love, Radha. Though she was dead, he longed to see her again. By his divine powers he brought her back to life and seated her by his side. Just then his queen, Rukmini, entered the room. When Radha did not rise to pay her respect, Rukmini left Dwarka in anger and hid herself in Dandirvan forest. After some days, Lord Krishna set off in search of Rukmini. He first went to Mathura, then to Gokul. He met the milkmaids and cowherd boys. They too joined in the search. They went to Mount Govardhan in her search.

At last they reached the banks of the river Bhima in the Deccan. Krishna left his companions at Goplapura, and he himself entered Dandirvan forest alone in search of her. At last he found her and managed to calm her. Krishna and Rukmini came to Pundalik's ashrama.

But at that time Pundalik was busy attending to his parents. Though he knew Lord Krishna had come to see him, he refused to pay his respect to the god before his duty towards his parents was done. He, however, threw a brick outside for lord Krishna to stand upon. Impressed by Pundalik's devotion to his parents, Lord Krishna did not mind the delay. Standing on the brick he waited for Pundalik. When Pundalik came out and begged God's pardon, Lord Krishna replied that far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his parents. Lord Krishna then ordered him to worship Vithoba, or God who stood upon a brick.

An imposing temple was built at the place where Krishna and Pundalik had met. Inside the temple stands Krishna's image on a brick. By his side stands the image of Rukmini.This temple covering a vast area has a total of six gates.

Link:- http://www.gsbkerala.com/panduranga.htm

Thanks for this great info raj😛

Originally posted by: set_raj

GOD'S GRACE:-

Shri Eknath was an accomplished personality. He had purified his body by penance in the early age according to the directions of his Guru. He was graced by his guru, Janardan swami and Shri Eknath himself got the "darshan" of Lord Krishna while he was performing penance on the Sulabha mountain. Even the God therefore tried to serve this holy personality in some form or the other and it is believed that the God served Shri Eknath Maharaj in all for thirty six years in three different forms.

At the time of the marriage of Shri Eknath one Shri Uddhav, who stayed at Bijapur and who was known to the family of Shri Eknath, came to Paithan and after the marriage he stayed permanently in the house of Eknath Maharaj. This gentleman was a man of great capacity and he used to manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj. Because of the "Sadavarta" referred to before, a number of grocery articles were required to be purchased and stored in the house very often. Apart from this, Shri Eknath Maharaj was a saint who was widely known in the country. Hence he always used to have a number of visitors everyday. All these visitors also were required to be suitably entertained. Similarly the festivals, birthdays etc. of all the Gods like Rama, Krishna, Dutta, etc used to be celebrated when also a number of people used to visit Eknath's house. To attend to all these jobs and manage all the household affairs of Eknath Maharaj was no small job and it required a man of various accomplishments. It goes to the credit of Uddhav that he managed all these jobs quite efficiently.

As mentioned before Shri Eknath Maharaj started doing the keertan after his return to the grandfather's house from the pilgrimage of the holy places in Nothern India. It is a custom that when the "Haridas" does the keertan, some other person stands behind him and joins the Haridas in singing the chorus. The prose portion is spoken only by the Haridas. So when Shri Eknath Maharaj started his keertans, he naturally felt the need of a person to support him. One day one person, who gave his name as Vithal, came to Eknath Maharaj and volunteered to give him the support during the Keertan. It was found that this Vithal had a very good voice and he was supporting Shri Eknath Maharaj in the Chorus very well It is said that Lord Krishna himself took the human form and served Eknath Maharaj in this fashion. After serving Eknath Maharaj in this way for a period of twelve years, Shri Vithal took leave of Shri Eknath Maharaj.

After Shri Vithal left Eknath Maharaj, one other Brahmin appeared on the scene. He gave his name as "Shrikhandya" and offered to stay with Eknath Maharaj and attend to all his domestic work. This gentleman, who was known as Shrikhandya, was attending to all household duties in the house of Shri Eknath. Because of the sadavarta in the house, the work in the Kitchen was heavy and of varied nature. Bringing water from the well, serving food to the visitors, plucking flowers and making the preparations for the god's worship and such other jobs were being attended to by this Shrikhandya ungrudgingly. He also stayed with Eknath Maharaj for twelve years and it is believed that God himself took this opportunity to serve Shri Eknath Maharaj in this human form.

Later on Eknath Maharaj had enough persons to attend to his domestic and household affairs. His wife was also a very efficient lady, who used to welcome all the visitors properly, whereby Shri Eknath was entirely freed to follow his religious and literary pursuits. In the advanced age Shri Eknath concentrated more on writing commentaries in Marathi on Various Sanskrit Books. So when Shri Eknath was writing his Commentary on Bhagwat, he used to read it out to the people gathering in his house everyday. In the evening when he used to read his book, one brahmin, who gave his name as Keshav, used to attend Shri Eknath's house regularly. Keshav used to take part in the discussion that took place. Sometimes he even went on suggesting changes and alternatives to certain portions of the book. This Keshav is supposed to be the third form of the God in the house of Shri Eknath. The written works of Shri Eknath would be of permanent nature and if some flaw remains in them, the posterity would find fault with Shri Eknath. Hence God is supposed to have helped Shri Eknath in the form of Keshav in making his works entirely flawless. Like Vithal and Shrikhandya, Keshav also was with Eknath Maharaj for a period of twelve years.

thanks for this story raj !!