SANT EKNATH
(1533-1599 A.D.)
A young boy of 12, had such yearning for God, he prayed fervently in the Shiva temple at Paithan. One day, Eknath’s prayer was answered, he heard a Divine Voice directing him to Guru Janardhan Pant. Gurus Janardhan Pant was the disciple of the great Primordial Guru Sri Datta. Eknath rushed to the abode
of the guru in Fort Devagiri without even taking leave of his grandparents.

The great guru instantly recognized the ardent disciple and endeavoured to quench his spiritual quest. The guru was not only a seer but a great visionary; his teachings integrated both the spiritual and the temporal. He reared Eknath rigorously in Yoga disciplines, Bhakti and Vedas, but more importantly he
was a loving father, mother and a friend.

Eknath kept the household accounts for his guru. One day he discovered an accounting error and stayed awake till wee hours minutely going over the accounts. The guru was pleased with his great concentration, and advised him to concentrate his mind likewise on the Lord.

In deference to his Guru’s wishes, Eknath married Girijabai. Eknath held the life of house holder (Grihasthashram) to be ideal for spiritual ascent. He believed that compassion and not renunciation of the world was a pre-requisite for spiritual ascent, and regarded the wearing of his body as a life of kindness
for the benevolence of others;

“The body is like riding a horse, deprived of food he would grow weak and be unable to carry the horseman; on the other hand if over fed, he would become restive, frisky and throw off the master. The horse, therefore, should neither be strayed nor overfed. Everything should be in moderation.”

His guru encouraged him to write commentaries on Vedantic texts in Marathi. Eknath wrote over 3000 most melodious abhangas on themes like the playfulness of the Bal Krishna, lives of great saints, the Lord’s great compassion for his devotees, etc. He revived Marathi literature; he synthesized compassion with humor – a style that gave birth to a new style of Marathi dance drama. He expressed his spiritual experiences and the path of virtue in Kirtans that came to form the most cherished musical heritage of Maharashtra. His couplets are well laced in wit without being sarcastic. . His language was simple and reached the common man. Prominent among his works are the Marathi translation of Gyaneshwari, Bhagwatam and Ramayana. However, his translation of the scriptures from Sanskrit to vernacular angered the Brahmins who feared his rising popularity.

The Chief Pandit of Varanasi summoned him to punish him severely. However, Eknath’s humility and love changed the pandit’s heart;

“O Swami, great and mighty, I reverently place my head at your feet. Do me, a helpless one, the kindness of permitting me to see you. if I have done any mistake, please forgive me. My poor intellect does not comprehend Sanskrit; I am without devotion, knowledge, unlettered. It is through service to you that
I have gained even this little inspiration to commence the Bhagavata, please do examine it and there is any fault please do examine it and if there is any fault please throw it in the river. Please have kindness over me, lessen your anger.”

His humble address worked like magic that transformed the Pandit. As he removed the curtain, in the place of Eknath, he saw the vision of the Lord himself.
His teachings were not about utopia, but a lesson on how to deal with daily life. He realized that unless there was peace within there could not be peace outside. The inner conflict reflected in outer conflicts. He showed through devotion and discipline one could attain inner peace. He had absolute faith in the seeker’s ability to sublime all weakness with the Grace of the Lord.

Eknath revealed sanyas was selfless action. Citing the examples of lord Krishna who advised Arjuna to do his duty as a warrior and not withdraw from the battlefield, he affirmed Selfless action (nishkama Karma) to be the true sanyas.

By his example Eknath showed that the enlightened soul is so filled with compassion that he does not shirk the world but works relentlessly for its emancipation; “if the mind is pure then why go on pilgrimage to sacred places, if the heart is pure then you can see the lord wherever you are. Samadhi is not the loss of consciousness or stiff motionless condition of the body; establishment in the brahmi state is when one enjoys constant divine experience.”

Eknath’s love cut across the boundaries of caste or creed. He served food to outcastes and even broke his fast in the house of an untouchable.
Even for those condemned to suffering and despair, the compassion of the Almighty was unlimited; ‘even if the vilest of sinners would take to the path of sincere bhakti, his sin would be absolved.’ His compassion extended even to thieves who came to rob him. But when they saw a miracle, they fell at his feet. However, he insisted they take something valuable from his house.

Like his heart, his house was open to all. Once late at night same strangers arrived. Observing their hunger, he woke his wife to prepare their meal. But there was no fire-wood in his house to cook the meal. Unhesitatingly, he pulled down the wooden beams from the roof for firewood. On another occasion,
he poured the sacred water into the mouth of a thirsty donkey.

His perennial spring of love could not be contaminated by spite. A miscreant kept spitting on Eknath over a hundred times. Each time Eknath purified himself with a bath in the river. Finally the miscreant realized his folly and begged forgiveness.

Eknath took the episode with a pinch of salt and thanked him for obliging him to bathe in the holy river so many times!
On another occasion a leper had a vision that Eknath would cure him. Eknath blessed some water and placed it in the leper’s hand, and he was cured.
An ardent devotee of lord Vithal, Eknath believed in monoism I.e. God, the Absolute was the only reality, and the world was the manifestation of nescience or maya. He perceived maya as self-projection and therefore beyond description. He explained that the individual soul and the universal soul were
essentially identical. ‘The reflection of God in the soiled mirror of a vidya is jiva, whereas the same in a clear mirror of vidya or enlightenment is shiva; the difference is due to maya. For instance waves gain form and name but their content is the same as the oceans; the element gold is the same though made in different ornaments.’

‘The ego prevents one from perceiving the divinity within every human being. When the individual realizes his oneness with the collective consciousness, the form disappears like the merging of the drop in the ocean, and we truly love others. With the attention on the divine, it becomes easy to face the ordeals of daily life. Empowered by the divine connection, a realized soul goes beyond vidhi and nishedha (laws, prescribing or forbidding). For him there remains nothing to be done or attained. His sense of identity drops, like the concept of ‘I’ or ‘thou’.’

He revealed Atma as sat, chit, ananda, implying that the three qualities were not separate but integrated where pure consciousness is the absolute truth, and manifests ripples of joy.
‘The Atma is neither born nor dies; it is a detached witness, without any attributes or non-attributes. The all-pervading soul is the only reality. The concept of morality remains as long as one identifies himself with perishable body and the world. The concept drops upon the realization of oneness with God.’

Eknath did not differentiate between the path of knowledge (Gyanyoga) and the path of karma (karmayoga). He pointed out that the ego was born when one identified with being the doer.
Hence he chose the path of bhakti where all work was done in the spirit of devotion to God, and there was no identification with the doer. However, he was mindful of his guru’s caution that the bhakti should be void of hypocrisy; “

By the grace of the Sadguru you have acquired the knowledge of the self, but remember that sagun (form) bhakti is indispensable. By discipline yogis overcome their senses but without bhaki they cannot experience the sagun God. Yogic practices may bestow great powers but without the bhakti and love there cannot be the bliss of the divine union.”

The fervor of his songs transported into an ecstasy beyond the realm of the intellect. He showed that joy did not source from the intellect but from love. That wisdom did not source from the intellect but compassion. Compassion was born from the womb of bhakti. In the tree of compassion bhakti was the root, and wisdom was the fruit. His compassion was so powerful that during deep meditation a snake sprung to attack him, but suddenly its evil nature was overcome by compassion. It coiled around his body to keep the cold away, and when the sun was too strong, it spread its hood to provide shade. A passerby was so struck by the spectacle that he shook Eknath from his smadhi to witness the miracle. Eknath burst into an abhang;

‘Death came to sting me,
But he changed to compassion.
Now I will know him well.
For heart has met heart.
Though in the body,
My bodily consciousness disappeared.
So death himself lost his power.
Eka Janadan now dances on his feet
To the tune; ‘no flavor to life or death’.