Mangalvedhe Bhoomi Santaanchi: Part 5

#saintsofmangalvedhe

The Saints of Mangalvedhe ( मंगळवेढे)

Part 5

Avgha Rang Ek Zala

Avgha rang ek zala

Rangi rangala Shrirang 

Mi tu pan gele vaya 

Pahata Pandharichya raya 

Nahi bhedache te kaam

Paloni gele krodh kaam

Dehi asoni videhi 

Sada samadhistha pahi 

Pahate pahane gele doori 

Mhane Chokhiyachi Mahari 

अवघा रंग एक झाला ।
रंगि रंगला श्रीरंग ॥१॥

मी तूंपण गेले वायां ।
पाहतां पंढरीच्या राया॥२॥

नाही भेदाचें तें काम ।
पळोनि गेले क्रोध काम ॥३॥

देही असुनि तूं विदेही ।
सदा समाधिस्त पाही ॥४॥

पाहते पाहणें गेले दुरी ।
म्हणे चोख्याची महारी ॥५॥

In part 2 of this series I shared with you the life story of Sant Chokhamela.

In that story was another person who experienced nearly everything that Chokha went through. And that was his wife, Soyrabai. She too was born in a mahar family. The social inequalities and hardships of any mahar in those times came to her share as well.

She too came in contact with Sant Namdev and was perhaps the closest witness to her husband’s spiritual journey and to how it suddenly picked momentum after meeting Namdev. Together they nurtured the devotion to Vitthala and for years dreamed of getting HIS darshan at the Pandharpur Mandir. She witnessed the ruthless beatings her husband was subjected to for attempting to enter the temple and cried in vain for mercy as she tried to shield him from the onslaught. 

Finally the day dawned when the restrictions were lifted on all castes with the initiative of saints like Dnyaaneshwar, Tukaram, Namdev. Now anyone could enter the temple and get the darshan of Vithoba. For someone like Soyrabai and Chokhoba it was the culmination of a lifetime of yearning for this darshan. The experience and ecstasy that came with it is eloquently expressed by Soyrabai in this abhanga. When you get a chance listen to these mesmerizing lines in the voice of Kishori tai Amonkar. It is sure to bring you a taste of divine experience.

 Avgha rang….. all the different colors

ek zala…..merged into one 

( when Soyrabai saw the moorti of Vitthala in Pandharpur. )

A ray of light is a single color, white, until it is intercepted for example by a prism ,when it disperses into the seven colors of rainbow. Take away the prism and all colors merge to become a single color again. Spiritual ignorance is the prism that makes us see each individual entity in creation as separate from the singular divinity that pervades the universe.

The pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment is reached when one sees the same divine principle in all creation. It is an experience of perfect unity in diversity. 

Soyrabai has expressed this exquisite experience in just four simple words!! There lies the genius of this poetess. In fact the rest of the lines in the poem can be forgotten and just this one line would suffice to meditate upon. The essence of rest of the lines of the poem will automatically become evident.

Rangi rangala Shrirang!

All colors took the color of the divine! Or the colorless divinity wrapped itself with all the colors! 

Shrirang is another name for Panduranga/ Krishna. Wherever she turned her eyes she saw Vitthala there. He was pervading everything. 

Soyrabai had already reached a certain spiritual maturity by the time she got the darshan of Vithoba. When the darshan happened it didn’t take much for her to gain complete awakening. 

Mi tu pan…The concept of me and you or in other words, individual ego

Gele vaya ….dissipated. Didn’t hold true anymore. 

Pahata Pandharicha Raya….as soon as I caught a glimpse of the Lord of Pandharpur. 

Nahi bhedache te kaam…. There was no room left for any differences. Everything and everyone was equal.

Paloni gele krodh kaam…..in that state of equanimity all mental flaws of desire, greed, anger disappeared instantaneously. The ultimate goal was achieved. What more would the mind desire after seeing Vitthala? How could anger arise or sustain after seeing Vitthala? 

Dehi asoni videhi….despite appearing to have a physical body the Lord was not the physical body. I could see HE was apart from the stone idol that stood in front of me ( said Soyrabai). 

Sada samadhistha pahi…..HE remained composed in meditative silence. 

This sentence could also be interpreted to describe Soyrabai’s own state of mind after seeing Vithoba. She entered a state of meditative reflection where she no longer identified with her physical body or body consciousness. 

Pahate pahane gele doori

The moment her sight fell on Vithoba a strange phenomenon occurred. Both actor and action disappeared. There was no one who was seeing and nothing was being seen. The subject and object merged into one. Only pure consciousness remained. 

Mhane Chokhiyachi Mahari

After relating the experience of that moment Soyrabai attests to it, referring to herself as not only the wife of Chokhoba the mahar but also as a devoted servant to him. She acknowledges Chokha as her spiritual guru who made her eligible to receive enlightenment. The most glorious moment of her life she submits at his feet. 

Indeed this short abhanga holds the entire essence of her life. It is also perhaps one of the most beautiful and accurate descriptions of the actual moment of self realization with a unique personal touch of the poetess. 

Hope you enjoyed this series about these three saints who hailed from Mangalvedhe. If you visit Pandharpur you can perhaps stop by Mangalvedhe to pay your respects to these great teachers whose lives and teachings remain an inspiration for generations.

Saree is a cotton ajrakh block print that I have repeated within a short time. I have a soft corner for ajrakhs to begin with. Plus the dark colors seem convenient to wear during monsoons. They are more forgiving for mud and oil stains coming after splatter from vehicles on the streets