Bhaktichandra  (Marathi, Paperback, GOKHALE MANJUSHRI)

SANT NAMDEV IS SAID TO BE THE BACKBONE OF THE SAINT FAMILY. BORN IN A TAILOR’S FAMILY, HE DETESTED STITCHING AND SEWING CLOTHES. DEVOTION TOWARDS LORD VITTHAL AND SPREAD OF BHAGWAT FAITH WERE THE TWO OBJECTIVES OF HIS LIFE. HE HAD DEVOTED HIS LIFE AT THE FEET OF LORD VITTHAL AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. HE TRAVELLED ALL OVER INDIA TO PROMOTE THE BHAGWAT FAITH. IN NORTHERN INDIA, IN THOSE DAYS, PEOPLE FOLLOWED YAVANI AMMAL. HOWEVER NAMDEV PROMOTED AND SPREAD BHAGWAT FAITH. HE HAD PLEDGED TO WRITE 100 TYPES OF ABHANGAS. NAMDEV WAS MOST FAVOURITE DEVOTEE OF LORD VITTHAL. HIS CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS BREAKING THE WALLS OF CASTE DISCRIMINATION IS VERY SIGNIFICANT. NAMDEV HAD A LARGE FAMILY COMPRISING OF PARENTS, A SISTER, WIFE, FOUR SONS, THEIR WIVES AND A DAUGHTER. SANT JANABAI, WHO HAS HIGH REGARDS IN THE SAINT FAMILY, WAS RAISED IN SANT NAMDEV’S FAMILY. SHE BECAME A VITHAL DEVOTEE AND LATER ACHIEVED THE SAINTLY POST. SANT NAMDEV HAD PERFORMED A FEW MIRACLES AS A VITTHAL DEVOTEE ARE MENTIONED HERE, IN HIS CHILDHOOD, NAMDEV FED LORD VITTHAL, THE FLOODED WATERS OF RIVER CHANDRABHAGA SPLIT ON THE REQUEST MADE BY SANT NAMDEV, THE OPENING OF A TEMPLE TURN AROUND WHILE LISTENING TO SANT NAMDEV’S KIRTAN. SANT NAMDEV WAS GIFTED A JEWEL EMBEDDED BED BY THE EMPEROR, HE IMMERSED IT INTO THE WATER. LATER THE EMPEROR ASKED FOR THE SAME BED. AS SANT NAMDEV PRAYED, THE BED APPEARED INTACT ON THE WATERS. LORD VITTHAL, HIMSELF DANCED WILE SANT NAMDEV SANG KIRTANS. SANT NAMDEV WAS VERY VERSATILE. HE WAS A GREAT DEVOTEE, KIRTANKAR, NARRATOR, CHARACTERIST, CREATOR OF THE ABHANGAS NOT ONLY IN MARATHI BUT ALSO IN VARIED LANGUAGES LIKE HINDI, PUNJABI, GUJRATI AND KANADI, SKILLED CONSTITUENT, SOCIAL REFORMER, A PROMOTER OF BHAGWAT FAITH OUTSIDE MAHARAHTRA, AN ABLE LEADER, A SOCIAL WORKER WHO TRIED TO ANNIHILATE THE CASTE DISCRIMINATION UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF MAULI. LORD VITTHAL’S DARLING FRIEND, SUCH ARE THE QUALITIES OF SANT NAMDEV. AS THE CREDIT FOR VITTHAL DEVOTION THROUGH THE 18 PAGAD CASTES AND CREATION OF SAINT GOES TO REVISED BHAGWAT FAITH BY SANT DNYANESHWAR, SIMILARLY SKILLED CONSTITUENT’S QUALITY IN SANT NAMDEV ALSO TAKE THE CREDIT. IT IS SANT NAMDEV’S STRENGTH TO CREATE ABHANGAS. HIS LANGUAGE IS MELODIOUS, TO THE POINT AND EASY TO UNDERSTAND. THE MELLIFLUENCE IN HIS ABHANGAS IS INDESCRIBABLE. AFTER TRAVELLING THROUGH THE WHOLE COUNTRY, NAMDEV SPENT MANY YEARS IN GHUMAN, A TOWN IN PUNJAB. GHUMAN BECAME THE MAJOR CENTRE OF DEVOTION IN PUBJAB. SANT NAMDEV’S 61 ABHANGAS ARE INCLUDED IN ‘GURUBANI’. SANT NAMDEV’S KHADI BOLI, ABHANGA IN PUNJABI IS MENTIONED IN IT. SANT NAMDEV IS THE ONLY ONE TO PROMOTE AND SPREAD BHAGWAT FAITH WHOLEHEARTEDLY OUTSIDE MAHARASHTRA. SANT NAMDEV LIVED UPTO THE AGE OF 84 YEARS. HE LEFT FOR THE HEAVENLY ABODE ON THE STEPS OF A VITTHAL TEMPLE, AS HE HAD WISHED FOR. SANT NAMDEV BUILT SAMADHI OF SANT CHOKHAMELA, WHO BELONGED TO MAHAR CASTE. SANT NAMDEV IS CONSIDERED THE BACKBONE OF THE SAINT SOCIETY.