Kaivalyache Chaandane

 Kaivalyachya Chaandnyala Bhukela Chakor:

Just as I was done with the last post sharing the thoughts about cherishing the best days of our lives when it is approaching the time to say goodbye, there was a lovely moment when I very briefly experienced a state of peaceful solitude. Kaivalya. 

In that moment the mind went quiet. It did not want to know anything. Did not want to think of anything. I knew instantly why a poet may have coined the term Kaivalyache Chaandane! The Moonlight of Solitude! It was a moment of great peace. And had arrived spontaneously without trying. Normally it becomes so difficult to quieten the mind. So this was very much a pleasant surprise. 

Having gathered the firsthand experience of Kaivalyache Chaandane, my guess was that the well known song in Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki’s voice may be a poem by Sant Dnyaneshwar. Dnyaneshwar Mauli has made several references to moonlight and the chakor bird in the Dnyaneshwari. Therefore it seemed something like this composition would be coming from him. 

In the opening chapter of the Dnyaneshwari he uses the metaphor of the chakor birds to implore readers to absorb the finer details of the text with a gentle attitude and careful attention, like the young ones of the mythical chakor bird would collect tender bits of moonlight. 

जैसे शारदियेचे चंद्रकळे । माजीं अमृतकण कोंवळे ।
तें वेंचिती मनें मवाळें । चकोरतलगें ॥ ५६ ॥ [1]

तियापरी श्रोतां । अनुभवावी हे कथा ।
अति हळुवारपण चित्ता । आणूनियां ॥ ५७ ॥

When I searched I was surprised. It is actually written by a modern day lyricist/poet Ashok G Paranjape for a Marathi musical drama about the life of Sant Gora Kumbhar. This drama was first introduced on stage around 1979. 

Several songs from this drama gained popularity. 

Sant Gora Kumbhar, the potter from Pandharpur who lived in the late 13th through mid 14th centuries was one of the most notable devotees of Panduranga( Vitthala).

 

Here is the song:

कैवल्याच्या चांदण्याला भूकेला चकोर

चंद्र व्हा हो पांडूरंगा, मन करा थोर 

बालपणी खेळी रमलो, तारुण्य नासले

व्रुद्धपणी देवा आता दिसे पैलतीर

जन्म-मरण नको आता, नको येरझार

ऐहिकाचा नाथा व्यर्थ बडिवार

चराचरापार न्या हो, जाहला उशीर 

पांडुरंग पांडुरंग, मन करा थोर 

Kaivalyachya chaandanyala bhukela chakor 

Chandra vha ho Panduranga, mana kara thor 

The chakor bird is hungry for the moonlight of liberation. 

Oh Panduranga, please show magnanimity of your mind and assume the form of the moon for your starved seeker.

The myth is that this bird only lives on moonlight. It waits through the harsh heat of the day until the moon rises. On new moon days it endures great suffering in the absence of the moon for an extended period yet waits patiently until the moon rises again. The metaphor is popular for citing the intensity of devotion true seekers experience towards their deity or spiritual idol. 

Kaivalya is the state of nonduality. It is the ultimate union with God consciousness. Individuality of the seeker merges into this single indivisible consciousness. The mystics have often described this as a state of unparalleled peace and bliss. Unlike the strife and suffering of ordinary life, such blissful state seems to find apt comparison with moonlight, where there is illumination but no heat. 

For the warkaris Vitthala or Panduranga is the representation of the God Consciousness. They devote their lives to the service of this deity. Their hearts and souls thrive on the love for the Lord. A warkari himself, Gora is calling for the Lord’s mercy to give him darshan and thereby quench his hunger. He cannot be appeased by food or other material comforts. Only the vision of Panduranga can fulfil his heart’s desire. Single pointed devotion is what is described here.

Baalpani khel ramalo, taarunya naasale 

Vriddhapani Deva aata disay pailteer 

Like any ordinary person he recalls that his childhood was spent carefree in play and sees his youth as being wasted. Now as old age has come his attention is turned towards final emancipation. 

Janma maran nako aata nako yerzaar 

Ehikacha Natha vyartha badivaar 

He wants to free from the cycles of birth and death and is wary of transmigration from one life to next. 

He confides with the Lord that he finds any kind of pride or glory in material life to be worthless.

Characharapaar nyaa ho, jahala usheer

Panduranga Panduranga, mana karaa thor

Take me beyond your creation that consists of char( living) and achar( non living) things. Already much time is lost. 

Oh Panduranga, open your heart wide.

This is the heartfelt plea of one of the most revered saints of the warkari traditions. His life story is a tale of extreme dispassion, personal tragedy and deep devotion while carrying out his traditional role as the town potter. Through these words he expresses his disinterest in materialistic life and a deep longing for the final stage of realization.