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Shri
Vittal and Mother Rukumayi
 Pundalik
was a great devotee of Lord Krishna and at the
same time he was wholeheartedly serving his aged
parents. Whenever he was serving he was chanting
the name of Lord Krishna devoutly. Pleased with
his devotion, the Lord came down and standing in
front of his hut, called out, “Pundalik dear,
I am your Lord. I have arrived to grace you.
Will you please come out for a while?”
At that time the devout Pundalik was engrossed
in serving his parents. He saw the Lord and
gently flung a brick and appealed, "Lord, I
am happy you have come but just now I am busy.
Will you please take your seat on the brick for
a while. I shall come within a few minutes to
receive you.” The all-merciful Lord smiled for
a while and without a single word of murmur
stood on the brick with his hands on his waist.
After beholding the Lord in all his glory
Pundalik thought that his mission in life was
over. He touched the feet of his parents, sought
their blessings and left the world forever. But,
the Lord! Lord
Krishna stood there on the brick waiting for
Pundalik to come out. In one of the Marathi
Abhangas it is stated that since 28 yugas he is
waiting and waiting standing on the brick. The
brick is called ‘veet’ in Marathi and Lord
Krishna thus became Vittal and his consort
Rukmini—Rukumayee
Shri
Vittal or Vithoba is fond of bhajans and he does
not need any other poojas. A good number of
saints and devotees sang in his praise by way of
bhajana songs and there are hundreds of such
songs composed by celebrated saint-poets like
Purandar Das in Kannada and Tukaram in
Marathi.The bhajans are not only prayers but
also group songs and also full of philosophical
ideas mostly borrowed from Vedas and Upanishads
but told in commoner’s language capable of
being sung melodiously with the accompaniment of
the beating of drums and cymbals. Ashadha Shukla
Ekadasi, or the Prathama Ekadasi is associated
with Shri Vittal.
Present
Status:
Since
when did we adopt Shri Vithoba Rukumayi, we do
not have exact historical details. Mulki temple
started in 1260 AD was a Vittal Shrine and even
today there is an idol of Lord Vittal there.
Then Shri Gokarn Partagali Math has one of its
presiding deities as Shri Vittal. Today almost
every GSB home at least in Dakshina Kannada
District has a god’s niche in which we have
the idols of Vithoba and Rukumayi. Every evening
our ladies keep in front of them milk and water
in small pots as an offering. Grown up children
and elders sometime joining them will sing
bhajans in front of the niche in the late
evening. In fact all our GSB Associations
have their origin in weekly
or monthly bhajana programmes only.
There are two famous Bhajana Saptahs
in the month of Shravan 1) Shri
Walkeshwar Kashi Math, Mumbai
and 2)Shri Venkatraman Temple Udupi when
hundreds participate in weeklong non-stop
singing of bhajans. |
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