Hello all. Here is my another research work done on Varkari
sampraday. Varkari sampraday(sect) is one of the important sampraday in
Maharashtra. Saint tradition has been widely spread and accepted. Abhang,
Bhajan, Bharud are different forms through which varkari saint has built
ability among people –to listen and understand difference between good and bad.
This sect has enormously worked to demolish caste system based on Varnas,
Looking through this spectrum how does this sampraday thought about patriarchy,
gender equality, women saint poets writing that has been studied in this
research paper. This research is an ‘effort’ to study about Varkari sampraday
hence possibilities of mistakes so please revert on it.
CHAPTER 1- VARKARI SAMPRADAY –
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The Varkari sampraday—referred
to as the Bhagavata sampraday of Maharashtra is Vaishnva bhakti
tradition whose distinctive feature is its pilgrimage to Pandharpur, in
south-eastern Maharashtra. The term varkari refers to those who
regularly ‘do’ (kari) the ‘pilgrimage’ (vari) to Pandharpur and
who worship and are devoted to Vitthal or Vithoba of Pandharpur1.
The Varkari sampraday recognizes over fifty Marathi male and female saint-poets
across a period of over five hundred years, whose compositions form the teachings
and corpus of the tradition and whose lives are regarded as classics.
In India there are different types of
sects like nath, data, shaiva, vaishnava, chaitanya, panchratra, virshaiva,
vallabha, nimbarka, ramanuja, madhav. Varkari comes under vaishnava
sampradaya. But it follows Advaita philosophy of Upanishads,
Brahma Sutras and Bhagvad Gita’s. Varkari is one of
the largest sects in Maharashtra and has followers from South India,
Gujrat and Madhya Pradesh also. Datta Sampraday, Nath Sampraday and Chaitanya
Sampraday came together unanimously and merged to form Varkari Sect.
In the same way, Other Vaishnav cult has directly or indirectly merged
in Varkari Sects. The Varkari Sect is inclusive, universal
in nature which gives accommodation to everyone (Gethe). All other Sampraday
like Ramanujacharya, vallabhacharya, madhvacharya, nimbark are vaishnav
sampraday but they are based on powers like- Chaitanya, Anand, Swarup and Prakash.
Every one of the above sampraday belongs to only one of this power but
Varkari Sampraday is merged with all powers, it is complete, and overall (More;
Dehukar, 2012:16). Saint Dnyaneshwar has taken heritage of Yog and Bhakti
experiences from Nath Sampraday which is carry forward in Varkari
Sampraday(Bahirat and Bhalerao;1972;309).
As different sampraday merged
to form the Varkari tradition is inclusive in nature because of
characteristics of different sampraday merged and form new sect2.
2 Also In India we called ‘sect’ as panth
or sampraday which is breaking away from main religion.
1) Pandharpur – A Historical Perspective
Pandharpur is located on the banks of
the Bhima River, which is alternatively known as Chandrabhaga because of its half-moon-like shape.
The city is named after a great merchant, Pundalik, who achieved self-realization
there. Pandharpur, also known as Pandhari, hosts the renowned Vitthal temple on the banks of Bhima. "Vithoba", "Pandurang", and
"Pandharinath" are the popular alternate names of the deity, Vitthala,
who is regarded in Hinduism as
a form of Lord Krishna.
Krishna is considered as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Rakhumai or Rukmini is Vitthala's consort in the
temple. Also there is another story of Pandharpur, Pundalik was Lord Shiva’s
Bhakt, he prayed for Shiva. Because of his praying Lord Shiva pleased and asked
him to demand what he wants. Pundalik asked lord that ‘you seat in cemetery and
meditate for the god, where is ‘that’ god?’ after listening this Lord Shiva gifted
him crowbar. Where that crowbar stands properly there will be ‘that’ lord Shiva
replied. In Pandharpur that crowbar stands properly. Pundalik wallowing on
ground for Vitthala to make others happy by getting rid them of from
miserable life (More; Dehukar, 2012:11).
The worship of Vithhal in the
Pandharpur temple is based mainly on the contents of the Puranas and the contributions of the Vaishnav saints
of Maharashtra and Karnataka during 13th
to 17th centuries.
Pandharpur has been known to
different names since ancient times till today like Pundalikpur,
Pandurangapalli, Pandhari, Pandharpur, Lohdandakshetra, or Pandhari. The
scientific finding of inscription on rock was found to be the establishment of Vitthala’s
temple of Pandharpur in 11th Century. Then it was renovated in 12th
Century by Shalivahan kingdom. Priest and devotees also protected the
idol of Lord Vitthala from the invader Allaudin Khilji in 13th
Century A.D. and from Aurangzeb in 17th Century. The Varkari sect
is also called Bhagwata pantha, following Bhagwata dharma. It is
important to note that unlike bhakti in other parts of the country
wherein the devotee is typically portrayed as a wife or a female lover seeking
love and attention from the beloved i.e. the deity, in the Varkari sect
all the stake-holders of bhakti are regarded as mother. In the Varkari
tradition the god, the saints and the devotees are all regarded as mauli
or mother. Even though in the saint literature Vitthala is sometimes
regarded as a friend, brother or father, the prominent image of Vitthala
is of mother. This practice of calling everyone Mauli, irrespective of
age, caste, class and more specifically gender is evident in the palkhi
procession (Kulkarni, 2015).
Vari means pilgrimage. It comes in Ekadashi.
There are 24 Ekadashi’s in a year. Those Ekadashi which comes
during Aashadh, Kartik, Chaitra and Magha month of Hindu calendar, most of the
varkaris comes in Aashadh and kartik Ekadashi month for pilgrimage. Dindi
is a particular formation of collective people. Musical instruments like Veena,
Mrudanga, Taal used in dindi for chanting Bhajans. The person
who carries Veena is a supreme head in Dindi. He gives particular
instructions about bhajan to the followers. There is a sequence
of chanting bhajans while walking in Dindi. A group who
carries flag walks ahead of the dindi followed by a lady who carries Tulsi planted
then musical troop including bearers of Veena, mridangam and taal
along with folks of men and women doing vari (Gethe S).
Bhajana and Kirtana from the
perspective of their importance in attaining para-bhakti, especially according
to Bhagavata dharma in Maharashtra. Bhajana is derived from the root bhaj,
meaning to share, to enjoy, adoring, to worship. Bhajana therefore means
sharing, service, adoration, worship. Bhajana
consists of singing the glory of the God while fully exerting one’s general
ability to sing. The specific meaning of bhajana in Maharashtra,
especially for the Varkari sampradaya, is singing the devotional songs
of the saints. In the Varkari sampradaya, bhajana and kirtana play
an important role in attaining para-bhakti. This is because varkaris
are acquainted with the teaching of the saints through bhajana and kirtana
rather than through the written scriptures (Koiso, 2010). ‘Bhajana-kirtana
is helping varkaris for binding together and work efficiently’ as Kusum
Dhamale(Varkari) said while talking in interview.
Kirtana- The Satpancassataka and Bhagwata
Purana ascribe same meaning to Kirtana, i.e. atonement. In Narada Bhakti
Sutra it is asserted that for worldly people, sravana and kirtana are two bhakti
activities that are easier than others such as the abandonment of all sensible
objects (Mizuno, 2010). Bhajana-kirtana is helping varkaris for
binding together and work efficiently. All Dindi decide their Bhajanmalika
(Series of bhajana). Mostly Saint Dyananeshwar, Tukaram are preferred in
bhajanas. Other saint poets Eknath, Muktabai also considered at some
extent as told by Varkari Kusum Dhamale.
2) Varkari Saint
The word ‘Saint’ has meaning of
decent person in Sanskrit. Saint doesn't exist as separate independent category
or as a new paradigm. But in Varkari sampraday it erased all this and emerged
as independent category and new paradigm. In 12-13th century Mahanubhav Panth address their
respectable person as 'Ishwar', later they addressed them as 'Mahant'
or 'Aacharya'. The tradition of calling all respectable people as
'saint' has been started by scholars who studied it. They generalize idea of
'saint' which is actually followed in Varkari sampraday. 'Tatiche
abhanga' are one of the inspirational and life changing moment for Dnyaneshwar.
It can also compare with how Lord Krushna told about Karmayog through 'Geeta' and
how Saint Muktabai motivated Saint Dnyaneshwar for sainthood. How saint should
behave, how saint should react, co-operate are all discussed in ‘Tatiche
abhanga’(More, 1995:9;27).
The Varkari saints themselves
were for the most part householders, not Sanyasis. They advocated the practice
of the path of devotion (Bhaktimarga) even while living within the
entanglement and responsibilities of life in the family and in society (Samsara).
The significant basis of the sect is that it does not demand renouncing of a
family or worldly life. It does not demand the Varkari to abandon his Grihasthashrama
(household duties) and enter into Sanyasashrama(renunciation). Rather,
it tries to strike a fine balance between these two. The movement is open to
all and as a matter of fact the majority of Varkaris are villagers,
peasants, craftsman and tradesman. Recently the individuals from the corporate
world, students and researchers are participating in the pilgrimage in
large numbers3. ‘Youngster
participates in pilgrimage mostly in Pune for some period of time not for the entire
Vari. For long route only old people comes we need more youngsters
participation. Also For being Varkari one has to avoid eating non-veg strictly.
No meat or fish consumption allowed and also need to wear tulsimala’, it
is believed that it will save us in circumstances and no experiences of ‘ghost’
occurred in life. Varkari should do namsmaran of ‘Ram Krushna Hari’. It
is mind refreshing as Kusum Dhamale said.
Marathi saints were open to
all castes, including untouchables and women and insisted on sharing the
language of the masses. Saints were very much a part of peasant
communities of their time. Jayant Lele(1981: 107) notes that they were ‘a
community of active producers. Dnyaneshwar explicitly rejects the
renunciation of productive life and ridicules the claims of liberation through
rejection of activity’.
The saints while celebrating human
productive activity were a part of the community of the oppressed. They
consciously preferred to write in a language that highlighted the everyday
practices of common people. Their idiom of writings was direct and dialogic,
thus reaching out to women as well. The women of the period, especially those
whose were in search of creativity and freedom, realized that the doors of the Varkari
sampraday were open to them.
Jayant Lele notes that saint
poets of medieval Maharashtra offer a most important methodological lesson of unmasking
the hypocrisy and falsehood of orthodox beliefs, but they also teach us to
develop the art of listening. Sadanand More considers the Varkari tradition
as the core of Maharshtrian culture and sees Tukaram as a social critic and
poet of a high order with matchless clarity of expression and an utter fidelity
to his own integrity as a free and radical human being and bhakta (Bhagwat,2005).
The earliest visual manifestation of
saintly figure is found in an Indus Valley civilization seal which shows a male
figure in meditative mood. According to the tradition there
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have been Rishis and Maharshis
who have been guiding spirit behind Sanatan Dharma. The Upnishadas,
Puranas and Epics provide us names of prominent saints who propounded
earliest vision of ‘Truth’ and expounded that with characteristic wisdom. It is
not only today but even in early historic days that saints and their sermons
were injured by evil forces.
Saintness imparts an uncommon
strength even to those who are otherwise weak. When the spirit of God has taken
possession of one, one then does not care very much for the conventions of the
world. Rishi Narad says about bhakti,: “with a choking voice, a
thrilled frame and tears (filling their eyes), they converse with one another…
they purify their families and the earth too. They make holy places, holy,
render actions righteous and good and lend authority to scriptures”. There are not
distinctions among them caused by birth, learning, family, wealth, professions,
etc. The saints are truly citizens of the world; they belong to all mankind,
they have no narrow attachments.
In Bhagwadgita a saint is
described as sthitaprajya (one who is steady in wisdom), gunatita
(one who has gone beyond the gunas which are the constituents of
material nature), bhakta (devotee), yogi (who has complete
control over body and soul) and brahmabhuta (one who has become Brahma).
Saints are compassionate, liberal and
compassionate in distributing the gains of their experience for the benefit of
humanity. According to tradition when a cow was being beaten marks of beating
appeared on the back of Tukaram. The saints see the same divine reality in
every being. It is the love of God or the universal vision of the supreme
Spirit that moved. The saints spend themselves in the service of the mankind.
Insight into the plenary truth and carefulness from all known attachments are
what characterize the saints.
The saint is one who has gone beyond
the three gunas when they are in action, nor drive them when they cease:
he stays calm, undisturbed by the gunas (gunatita); he does not have the
gunas when they are in action, nor drive them when they cease; he stays
calm, undisturbed by the gunas, knowing full well that it is they
function and not he; he is, therefore, the same as pain and pleasure. There is
no distinction between things dear and things not dear, and blame and praise
are one; honour and dishonour are the same to him; he remains unaffected by the
phenomenon of change and mutation. He is without the thought of ‘I’ and ‘mine’
and regards pain and pleasure as all one and has fortitude and forbearance; he
is ever content. He does not disturb the world nor the world disturbs him, Godly
realization is his only end (Singh,1999).
The saint-poets of Maharashtra
enumerate various moral virtues; they are individualistic and practical. Sardar
mentions, ‘All the saints sought to make the “social order” a vehicle for the
new spirits’ (Sardar, 1969: 32). The core of that social order was bhakti.
Bhakti is the base that touches upon all the important virtues that the
saints have propounded. The saint-poets of Maharshtra contributed to the
progress of society by teaching and practicing bhakti. They were
realistic and worked within the framework of society to reduce social
inequality. The circumstances of their time did not allow them to pursue any
radical social change. However, they made an enormous contribution that is
worth considerable deliberation. They provided spiritual support and guidance
to the masses to lead them to an ideal way of life (Koiso, 2010: 200).
To be a Varkari is first to
make this pilgrimage faithfully, at least once and preferably twice, every
year, in the company of all the other Varkari saints. As Deleury points
out, the word ‘saint’ in Varkari terminology is applied "to any
pilgrim on his way to Pandharpur". So the company of the saints on the
pilgrimage includes all the ordinary Varkari men and women as well as
their present gurusthal is, the entire living Varkari community of
today. But it also includes all the great saints of the past.
Dnyaneshwar born in 1275 and took samadhi twenty-one
years later. Dnyaneshwari is commentary on Bhagwadgita however Amrutabhav
is philosophical text contains many abhangas. Dnyaneshwar and his
brothers and sister, Nivrittinath, Sopandev and Muktabai, were
born to a Deshastha Brahman woman after her husband had returned to her
from a state of sanyas. Although he had been sent back to his
unfulfilled wife by his own guru, he was immediately outcaste by his fellow
Brahmans, the ritual priests of the Desh area of Maharashtra and in time his
children were also scorned.
Eknath, a Deshastha Brahman who
lived as a householder in Paithan, is a pivotal figure in the Varkari
tradition. He serves as a link between past and present, between high Vedanta
philosophy and common religious devotion, between scholarship and popular
vernacular kirtans. He edited the Dnyaneswari that we have today.
He translated a book of the Bhagwat Purana which is known as the Eknathi
Bhagwat, and is second only to the Dnyaneswari as a ''text" for
the Varkaris. He wrote amusing drama-poems called bharuds which
brought the message of devotion in colorful style to the common man. And he
carried forward the idea of a company of saints with an abhanga.
Saint Tukaram born about the
time of Eknath’s death and lived until 1649, Tukaram's mature years
coincide with the rise of the great Maratha Kingdom founded by Shivaji. Under
this Maratha king a state was born which formed something very like the nation
states of European area with a mass culture of belonging, of unity, of a
national spirit. Shivaji
the King, however, was a devotee of the goddess Bhavani and a patron, so far as
we know, not of Tukaram but of Ramdas, a saint of a more militant and political
bent than the gentle Varkaris. Nevertheless, it is perfectly possible
that the unity built by the saint-poets from many castes, the commonality built
by the Marathi literary tradition and the pilgrimage itself, formed the
underlying sense of belonging which is the hall-mark of the modern state.
‘Saint Namdev elaborated work of Dnyaneshwar
in Varkari sampraday after him. But Namdev’s work has been taken into
consideration in Ghuman(Punjab) well than Maharashtra. Saint Namdev’s work
isn’t being appreciated in Maharashtra properly. Namdev Maharaj’s descendants
are also responsible for this. Also we need to understand that Varkari Sampraday
has been flourished by varkaris than their descendants hence it’s still
surviving today’ as Shivaji More Ex-President of Dehu Sansthan gave information.
Saint Chokhamela was a
householder and the fact that his wife,
son, sister and brother-in-law were also saint-poets. Chokhamela protested that
the Ganga is not polluted by low caste, nor is the holy earth defiled, but he
left the temple domains and worshiped
from afar. Chokhamela was both a devout and often joyous singer of songs of
devotion and a man anguished by his status in life (Mokashi-Punekar,2005:126).
A Brahman woman, Bahinabai,
found her Guru in this Shudra saint, and wrote a spiritual autobiography about
her struggle for a devout life. Saint Muktabai, Janabai, Soyrabai, kanhopatra
are woman saint poets of varkari tradition. Saint Muktabai’s ‘Tatiche
Abhanga’ was enlightening for Saint Dnyaneshwar who was pillar of Varkari
sampraday. No bhakti saint-poets flourished under the rule of the Peshwas,
chief ministers to the then powerless descendants of Shivaji and rulers of an
expanding Maratha Kingdom which reached North, East and South in the 18th
century. The Varkaris were immortalized, however, in the writing of a
Brahman hagiographer, Mahipati. In several volumes of lives of the saints,
Mahipati, as did Eknath, added the saints of the Hindi tradition. He also
included Ramdas, the devotee of Ram, founder of a sanyasi order, writer of
religio-political tracts, not songs to Vithoba. And since Mahipati's time,
Ramdas has been included among the saints in a sort of generalized mystical
tradition of Maharashtra. The saint-poet tradition is by no means the only
literary school in the Marathi language in the pre-modern period, but it is
clearly the one most thoroughly shared by elite and common man, by intellectual
and illiterate. It also has the continuing capacity to inspire modern creative
work, a capacity not shared by the pandit poetry, nor by the bardic4 traditions of powada (heroic ballads) and
lawani (romantic songs)(Zelliot, 1987:46). Also All saint poets of Varkari like Dnyaneshwar,
Tukram, Eknath, Namdev,Bahinabai has inner consciousness to build up Varkari
Sampraday and hence filled gaps between each others abhangas and brought
it forward to people(More;Dehukar, 2012:14). As More praise knowledge all above
mentioned saints but in this where does lower caste Saints like Chokhamela,
Soyarabai, Janabai stands isn’t figured out.
Saint poet’s social work has been
done unknowingly. Varkari panth celebrated enlightened lower caste, women by raising self
realization of own dignity and power in
them. Saint has done work on root
cause of caste system. They worked on hierarchical system of caste through abhanga
and kirtana (Bahirat and Bhalerao; 1972:355).
3) Pandharpur Pilgrimage as Public
Performance
The uniqueness of this pilgrimage to
Pandharpur is that the foot images or what is called ‘paduka’ of the
saint-philosophers of the cult are carried in the palanquin or Palkhi. Padukas
can roughly be understood as wooden sandals. These padukas are of utmost
importance for the devotees as they are the symbols of the living spirit of
their saints. The Padukas carried in a Palkhi of various saints
start procession from various parts of Maharashtra. The Palkhis are the
focal point of the entire organization of the pilgrimage.
In India religion is public and
private both, it can’t be central to private only or public only. Religion in
India has diversity and complexity in nature. Pilgrimage has idea of bringing
people together. Pilgrimage brings idea of synergy created through people’s collective
performance and also these people share their experiences based on common grounds
when they come together. Victor Turner’s idea of communitas similar here as, ‘Communitas is an acute point of community. It takes community to the
next level and allows the whole of the community to share a common experience,
usually through a rite of passage. This brings everyone onto an equal level:
even if you are higher in position, you have been lower and you know what that
is.’ pilgrimage had certain similarities with such rites in the way it
encouraged people to move (literally and metaphorically) from their normal,
everyday lives and enter, however temporarily, different social and spiritual
worlds. They coined a term for the experience of 'losing' one's old identity
and freely and spontaneously encountering others on pilgrimage: communitas. Many villagers,
peasants, craftsman and tradesman join Vari
to forget their misery occurred in life. Peasants consider Vari as
rejuvenation, refreshment, energetic to deal with all mishaps in rest of the year.
Also Emile Durkheim’s argument on collective effervesces relates the
idea of when people collectively come together that becomes sacred due to their
sharing of common hood, ‘the universal religious dichotomy of profane and sacred results from the lives of these tribe members: most of their life is
spent performing menial tasks such as hunting and gathering. These tasks are
profane. The rare occasions on which the entire tribe gathers together becomes
sacred, and the high energy level associated with these events gets directed
onto physical objects or people which then become sacred.’
Different caste, nature, age, gender
people participate in Vari as we said before. They all merged in one i.e. ‘love
for God’. By collection of such differences each individual has chance to work
on his or her religious and ethical development. Also this idea of collectivity
makes individual to leave routine life’s slight imaginations (Bahirat and
Bhalerao; 1972:288).
The Bhakti movement is open to
all, and as a matter of fact the majority of Varkaris are villagers,
peasants, craftsman and tradesman. Recently the individuals from the corporate
world, students and researchers are participating in the pilgrimage. Bhakti seeks
to form publics of reception rather than communities that imply a single
cohesive issue or idiom. To Sankara, around the 9th century CE, is
attributed the argument for an individualized, monist vision of bhakti, which
he is said to have expressed in the Sivananda lahirl by his metaphor of the
river, or self, joining the ocean, or Brahman. His broad influence had much to
do with philosophical-religious understandings of bhakti in the
direction of a personal pursuit. Yet the metaphor is telling? The river may be
an individual stream on its way to the ocean, but it is also one of the central
venues of collective, social Hindu religious practice5 and also,
universally, a key site for commerce, economics, travel, and urban development.
The river is many things: a boundary, a threat, a source of sustenance, a
channel of trade. The river is an apt metaphor for the public, as much as it is
for bhakti and religious expression itself (Feldhaus, 1995). River is
joining different people across also they bring them together to sharing goods,
emotions, practices etc.
In Sadashiv Atmaram Jogalekar’s book Sahyadri,
he classifies three central rivers of Maharashtra in terms of a variety of
categories. The three rivers with the three most popular Varkari poet-saints,
Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, and Namdev. Dnyaneshwar was born at Apegav,
on the Godavari, and Tukaram lived in Dehu, on a tributary
of the Bhima. Namdev, who is supposed to have lived and died in
Pandharpur, on the Bhima, presumably gets assigned to the Krishna
because he is not quite as popular as Dnyaneshwar or Tukaram,
because the Krishna is the river that is left over, and because his own river,
the Bhima, eventually flows into the Krishna. The Bhima “harmonizes”
the other two river’s characters, without assigning it a character of its own.
The very next sentence singles out the Bhima as the “boundary of
liberation” without saying anything equivalent about the other two rivers.
Finally, the categorization of the Bhima valley as the “land” of the “King of
Pandhari”—i.e., of the Varkaris’ god Vithoba, whose main temple is at Pandharpur
on the Bhima (Feldhaus:1995). Hindu religious practicess5 largely
attached with river. Most of the practices performed near river, also religious
places situated near river.
Despite Sankara's usage, we also find
in Sanskrit an impressive series of texts that associate bhakti with
public performance. In treatises on aesthetics, and especially in texts
attributed to Abhinava Gupta in the early 11th century, the nature
of bhakti as affect is debated. Bhakti in this context is beyond rasa,
beyond the "flavor" of a performance, but is one of those key
"experiences," or bhavas, that a rasa might explore;
all roads, as it were, may lead to bhakti, and it cannot be limited to
any particular kind of effect. It is thus understood not only to be a shared
experience, like love and anger. But an expressive one - an expression of the
self, perhaps, but an outward expression of the self, a performance of emotion.
The relationship between rasa and bhava, and in particular it’s
affective display, its public performance, suggests both publics that theorize
and publics that consume bhakti as a key “experience “of life. The
public created when bhakti is invoked is ruled neither by dogma nor
coercion, but made cohesive by a kind of social agreement. Bhakti indicates
a practice of sharing,
5 Hindu religious practices
e.g.Kumbha Mela in Banaras
equal distribution and mutual
enjoyment, what Karen Prentiss calls “participation” (1999: 24), an interaction
that suggests the “embodiment” of bhakti as a prerequisite for its
practice. This is a crucial point when we are discussing systems of memory that
are often extra-textual and appeal to people who are not literate or who do not
engage with bhakti through literacy. Just as the public sphere requires
literacy, the publics of bhakti in South Asia require “embodiment,” the
human as medium. This very useful notion of “embodiment” does not simply exist
as a trope of literature, but is deeply engaged in the performance of the
discourse of bhakti. Manifestation of bhakti not only in performance
through song or literacy, but also through all those actions and bodily
displays that make up bhakti in the broadest sense, such as those
outlined above: pilgrimage, puja, darshan, the wearing of signs on the
body and so on. Embodiment then is not so much a technique of bhakti as
its very epicenter: bhakti needs bodies. In other words, bhakti needs
the medium of the living human or remembered bhakta in hagiography, and
the ways in which bodies are objects of public display hardly need rehearsing
here. There is then almost a symbiotic equation between bhakti and
performance. Hence we can say here, a public is necessarily created. The
publics in the context of bhakti are both created and opposed, they both
unify divide. Initially this fact seems to disallow the possibility of single
social movement configured around the idea of bhakti in India. Overall,
the literature of bhakti defined its publics as inclusive, contrasting
them to associations that form along lines of class and caste, which are their
primary “others”. Yet exclusivity is also expressed through the media of bhakti
–in practice if not in theory. The idea of public allows us to engage both
the inclusive and the exclusive assertions of the texts and practices
associated with bhakti and allows for social effects of both kinds (Novetzek,
2007).
Theory and narrative often hide the
true motives of the theory-makers and thus the gap between bhakti theory
and practice is quite intentional and quite intentionally concealed. From this
perspective we might see bhakti hagiography as a form of hegemonic
discourse designed to create a bhakti “tradition,” an intentionally selective
version of the past designed to connect with and ratify a present that is in
the interests of the dominant social class (Williams 1997: 115-16). Pilgrimage
has idea of inclusivity which is depicted through poetry and literature. But
also they have thought of people who are not varkaris are ‘other’. They try to
focus, elaborate, highlight varkari sampraday so widely and consider it as best
and hence to follow by all. Shivaji More Dehu Sansthan Ex-President gave
information that ‘Mokla Samaj (Free society) and Dindi Samaj
(Dindi varkaris) are two types of people in Vari. Dindi Samaj
follows rules and regulations of Vari because they have been informed
every time by Dindi Owner. However Mokla Samaj operates in their
way, they are not Varkaris. They choose themselves when to join
procession or when to rest, hence they create trouble to discipline of Vari
sometimes’. But at the same time this ‘public’ inclusiveness spread the nature
of collectivity among each other who are ‘varkaris’.
Also Vari has distinct feature as it
is not similar to yatra or other pilgrimage these pilgrimage join once in life
to gain virtue and purgation, but varkari goes every year to Pandharpur vari
for devotion towards Lord Vitthala. This devotion is never ending process. You
thirst to gain it more and more (Bahirat and Bhalerao; 1972:143).
CHAPTER 2 – BHAKTI AS TRADITION IN
THE CONTEXT OF VARKARI
Bhakti cult has performed an important role
in both Saivism and Vaishnavism and in particular the bhakti
cult in Vaisnavism has been based on theory of Vedanta school.
The concept of Bhakti first clearly mentioned in Bhagvad-Gita which
has completed around first century and has been nourished.
Before 10th century,
however Brahmins carrying on the vedic tradition hardly recognized bhakti
as a means of attaining moksa. Sankara, who was contemporary Vedanta
master affirmed that Brahman is only real existence having no attributes (nirguna)
and is impersonal consciousness (caitanya) identical with an atman and
that the phenomenal and multiple world
is unreal existence caused by avidya(the nescience). Thought of this
kind might explode the theoretical basis of bhakti cult, because shakti
should be devoted to personal God with attributes (saguna), because one
who is devoted to bhakti should be different from one who devotes bhakti
and because the phenomenal world should be regarded as real experience in which
a devotee practice several activities to express bhakti. Bhagwata
Brahmins considered effective means of attaining moksa an authority of Veda
or Upnisads (Kimura,2010).
By around 7th century, the medieval
Hinduism was under devotional transformation. It received its initial impulse
of transformation from the bhakti movement. The bhakti, a
Sanskrit noun, is derived from the verb bhaj, meaning broadly "to
share, to possess", and occupies a semantic field that embraces the
notions of "belonging", "being loyal , even liking"6
. The grammarian Panini speaks that even in the early period the world's most
important practice was in the domain of religion7.
Bhakti, which implies "devotion"
or "love" in later literature, is one of the central
6 Fridhelm Hardy, Virah-Bhakti: The
Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India (1983), p. 7.
7 S.N. Das Gupta, Hindu Mysticism (New York, 1959), particularly Popular
Devotional Mysticism, pp. 144-148.
concepts of hinduism. It describes
that side of Indian religion in which the personal engagement of a devotee with
a personally conceived religion is understood to be the core of religious life.
It arose from Tamil land in the 7th century, gradually spreading to
north India, Bengal, Karnataka and Maharashtra by the 15th century.
The Tamil culture played a very crucial role in making it all encompassing
emotional reality. This very emotional texture, along with its social and
spiritual values, brought about remarkable changes in the quality and structure
of religious life. From ritual observance and the performance of prescribed
duties, or alternately, ascetic withdrawal in search of speculative knowledge
of the divine, the heart of religion became the cultivation of a loving
relationship between the individual and a personally conceived supreme God.8
Bhakti has been look at by different
philosophies. Bhakti deals with human body, it appear as part of
existence for Varkari. They can’t separate themselves without bhakti.
Even their existence is negligible for them without Vitthala. Also
Bhakti is considered way towards moksa hence to attain it Varkaris
believe it.
1)
Brahmanism
and Varkari Movement
The importance of Bhakti in Varkari
tradition is borrowed from Bhagwata. Even though the Bhagwat Gita
discusses bhakti path of salvation, it is the Shrimad Bhagwat
which has the exclusive account of bhakti path of salvation. Salvation no longer remained the
preserve of the upper castes but became privilege of all, and strongly attacked
mindless ritualism of the brahmanical tradition or Pandits to bring
about simplicity in one's religious life. It led to the proliferation of
vernacular languages or regional languages as the saint-poets of this great
tradition composed the devotional songs in their respective languages to attack
brahmanical Sanskrit language. This very growth of vernacular languages all
around India resulted in giving regional orientation to the regions, like
Sikhs, Marathas, Bengalis, etc. ;
while in their devotional practices, the bhakti followers strongly
attacked all forms of worship and brahmanic temple rituals. Shivaji More Ex-President of Dehu Sansthan
supports this idea by saying, ‘Bhagwat Dharma has given simple way to
live religious life. Dnyayneshwar Mauli has started implementing it and then
Saint Namdev has carried forward it with others’.
The period of Shivaji equally saw
strong religious orientation of the Maratha state with its full blown up form
visible during the Peshwa period at Pune, resulting in thoroughly brahmanised
culture. Princess and prominent families lavishely donated land grants to the
temples and brahmins. However, the religious life of the rulers, particularly
from the Shivaji period onwards, was curious blend of secular and sacred
ambience of the medieval politics. It may show the common form of medieval
society and politics of early modern Europe as well, but the religiosity of
rulers in Indian context seems more to do with Indian tradition than anything
else. In the pre-industrial context Patricia Crone9 speaks that the
monarch was often required to protect the religious establishment and promote
the divine order, not just in the general sense of righteousness, but also in
the specific sense of religious law and morality. In fact, this very
religiosity in Indian context is equally tied up with the issue of king in his
relationship with brahmins, and King vis-a-vis Dharma. Also it provided the religious as
well as cultural base in reorienting their power and authority from Shivaji
onwards, despite bhakti remaining a dominant form of institution.
Early 19th Century Peshva
dynasty were corroborated. Varkari sampraday was bahujan sampraday and it
doesn’t have Brahmanism privileging culture hence Peshva overlook it (More;
Dehukar, 2012:33).
The non-brahmin movement itself
became political, tended to lose interest in social equality involving the
lowest castes, and in the era of democracy brought political power to the
Marathas and middle level castes (Rinehart, 2004).
Bhakti movement provided strong base for
the common masses to realize God at the
9
Crone,
Patricia. (1989). Pre-Industrial Societies (Basil/Blackwell),
p. 48.
individual plane and get away from
the ritually oriented traditions preserved by the brahmins. The bhakti
movement subverted the hegemonic position of brahmins in society to make each
caste dry group equal and nurture a sense of identity - be it of 'region' or
'community' as the interrelationships among the saints-poets point to the
growth of regional identities. Jayant Lele points out that tradition is that in
which the experience of all past struggles is kept alive and incorporated. It
remains accessible as a source of inspiration for collective social action
under appropriate conditions and through contextualized reinterpretations10.
The lineage-clan obligations and
corporate corporations between different jatis seem to have remained the
main basis of social order. With the shaping up of peasant economy after the
Gupta period, the village emerged as the focal point in Maharashtra. The jati
system became the primary basis of interaction, emerging out of occupationally specialized,
endogamous corporate groups. The social order, in fact, started revolving
around the village vatan-jati nexus of institutions since early medieval times11.
Brahmanism gained its ascendance out
of its placement in Varnashram Dharma with its crucial claim of
brahmanic superiority. Varna system made its deep depression into the Indian
society as well as Maharashtra. The medieval transformation of brahmanism with
its contemporary features, seems further to have incorporated a range of Vedic
as well as popular terms and beliefs combined with a more sophisticated
religious theory which acquired a much higher degree of acceptability for
itself (Lele,1990:18).
The varna theory, with its
crucial claim of brahmanic superiority became quite powerful proposed idea of aspiring
chieftains and the priestly brahmins. Brahmanism found its base in Maharashtra
due to its drive to provide legitimacy to the aspiring persons for power. Due
to bhakti tradition brahminism challenges this idea of hierarchy in medieval
times. But also we need to consider that all pujas, mahapujas are performed by
10 Lele has talked about the role of
tradition 'as well as the modernity of tradition in the context of bhakti
movement, Tradition and Modernity in the Bhakti Movement (London, Brill,
1981),p.4.
11 A.R. Kulkarni, Maharastra in the Age
of Shivaji (Poona, 1967), p. 24.
Brahmins in Pandharpur Temple today.
I asked Kusum Dhamale (Varkari) about it, she replied ‘Brahmins knows mantra
and puja performing so that is why they are doing it’. Also Shivaji More
provided information that ‘earlier Badve and Utpat (Brahmin
families) were performing puja in temple. But now lower caste people can
perform puja. Who believes in equality either Brahman or lower caste can
perform puja. All this pujari are decided. But still dominating Brahmins
are there in society and pretend them as pujari’. Within this Varkari
movement Marathi as a language has been taking shape through saint poets
and varkaris. The important output of this movement it speaks against Brahmanical
hierarchy. However it remained rooted in its own structure unable to blow away
the subordination of women suffering in society and the brahmins well hegemonic
position. Also why it didn’t speak about patriarchy which was whole heartedly
rooted along with brahminism is unanswered question. It was a mystic and
devotional movement which certainly brought about other left out streams of
society into the play of history. The bhakti movement was in constant
conflict as well as in dialogue with the Maharastrian Hinduism. The
saint-poets, of both Hindu and Muslim origin, carried out a common base for
prayer and worship.
2)
Dnyaneshwar:
Looking Bhakti through Bhagvad Gita
Ramanuja placed bhakti as highest
position and referred to jnanayoga in category of karmayoga and
explained that premising the rejection of karma, jnanayoga is actually
difficult to perform. In this manner, Ramanuja re-evaluates karmayoga and
acknowledges jnanayoga, to which Sankara assigned only secondary
importance. Moreover, he avoids Sankara’s opinion that jnanayogais the
only means to liberation. On the other hand, by identifying bhakti with
sensation (vedana) and meditation (upasana, dhanya,nididhyasana,smrti),he
attempts to establish harmony with the Upanisadic tradition of intellectualism
and meditation. Whereas Madhva attempts to emphasize differences with Sankara
more distinctly for example, a liberated person is not integrated into Brahman
and one who gains direct perception also has the possibility of transmigration.
Dividing the Bhagvad-gita into three
parts-karmayoga and jnanayoga(chapters-1-6),bhaktiyoga
(chapters 7-12), and other miscellaneous topics- Saint Dnyayneshwar places
bhaktiyoga at the highest position, over karmayoga and jananyoga. Within Chapters 1-6 (Bhagwad-gita) where Karmayoga
and jananyoga are mainly discussed- as some researchers regard Dnyayneshwar
as ‘completely non-dualistic’ (purna-advaita) and as he himself discusses the
identity of Brahman and atman (6.383;398,etc.) and explains that
the world is maya (2.105; 166; 4.444,etc.)- his interpretation of the
Bhagvad-gita is characteristically under the strong influence of Sankara’s
thought. Besides, he states the method of Tantric meditation developed in the
Nathas (the method of meditation by being trained in the Nathas; he himself
describes it in 6.291) as a time-consuming karmayoga that gradually
leads to the direct vision of the identity of Brahman and atman,
especially as stated in Chapters 5-6 (Iwao, 2010:187).
Saint Dnyaneshwar has elaborated idea
of 'saint' in Dnyaneshwari so well. In actual Bhagvadgita concept of 'saint' is
not there but Dnyaneshwar included it as new concept and spread it as new
paradigm (More, 1995:11). Saint Dnyayneshwar simplifies Bhagwad Gita for common
people. He brought philosophy of Gita in Ovi style. The path of Knowledge, the
path of action, the path of yoga and the path of devotion has been discussed in
BhagvadGita according to common man’s understanding. He has used a lot of
examples and metaphors from day to day life and from nature to make the meaning
very clear to a common reader12.
12 Saint Dnyaneshwar wrote this critique
on the instructions of brother Nivruttinath who was disciple of Gahininath, one
of the nine gems or Navnaths of the Nath sect.
3)
Tukaram:
Conceptualizing Bhakti
The Bhakti is rooted in a very
humanistic feeling. The adoration of someone or something is inherent in human
nature. Bhakti-marga is universal in that it is open to all. The path of
bhakti is the religion for all. Humbleness is the most essential and
elementary attribute of the bhakta. The concept of bhakti
according to the Bhagavata dharma includes all necessary principles
regarding social philosophy. A true bhakta
attains the state of para-bhakti, he is able to see God everywhere,
within himself as well as outside himself; this state is characterized by
absolute samatva(equality). According to the advaitic approach,
everything is filled with nothing but Brahman. There is no room for
discrimination. Bhakti marga is open to all human beings, without of varna
or creed. The samatva approach can be in the writing of the saint-poets
of Maharashtra.
Serving the sarvabhuta(all
being) as God is the approach of the samatva followed by advaita-bhakti.
Sarvabhuta actually implies all beings and it indicates the pursuit of
not only the abhyudaya but also nihsreyas. Whenevr bhakta serves sarvabhuta
as God, his attitude towards sarvabhuta must unconditionally be that of niskamata.
Niskamatakarma is understood as action without
expectation of reward and practiced with detached attitude. According to Tukaram
Bhakti is not merely worshipping God, but the service of all beings as
if they were God. Additionally, bhakti can be a social force. Whatever
works men undertake in society. If they are inspired by the love of God, they
will experience no conflict with society.
The reason for Tukaram’s popularity
is that his spirituality and longing for Vitthala are deeply rooted in humanism;
he lived in an era when Marathi literature was flourishing; this is reflected
in his abhangas. Although he was a householder, he was not interested in
worldly life. His abhangas are simple, straightforward and powerful. As Tukaram
was always considering God, he reiterates the importance of worshiping Vitthala.
Tukaram emphasizes seeing Vitthala in everything in living as well as nonliving
entities. Tukaram believes that the Lord is present in the image of Vitthala
in the Pandharpur temple. He supports image worship. Though Tukaram continues
the practice of image worship, he seeks to steer clear of idolatry. He believes
that God whom he worships in the idol is transcendent in His intrinsic reality.
He is not limited to the image (Dabre 1987: 25). Routine life reality used to
be depicted by Tukaram’ in simple words. He used common people language to convince
ethics. As he was against of disheveled charitable also he was against of
disheveled business.
In reality bhakti through bhajana
is dialogue between God and the bhakta. Also it is equally easy to practice for
every bhakta. P.C. Engblom (1987: 25) says, what makes bhajana so
attractive sadhana(spiritual means)is that it is comparatively
accessible to the common person and does not require mysterious disciplines. A bhajana
is an act of the most complete self-abnegation and total self-surrender to Vitthala’13.
The Varkari tradition applies
its methods of moral and spiritual teaching to the cultural level of simple
people. Because the previous saint-poets
have written a vast amount of poems which contain moral and philosophical
teachings, singing and listening to bhajanas has obtained greater
significance. Saint Tukaram Consider as prominent saint poet which deals with bhakti
and service to society simultaneously. He doesn’t trapped himself in image
worship.
4)
Chokhamela
and Untouchability
Chokhamela was 14th century
untouchable saint-poet. The bhakti movement was a questioning of the
orthodox and repressive brahminical understanding of Hinduism and as such made
it possible for the lower castes and women to give a form to their religious
aspirations, emphasizing devotion and love, not knowledge, as a means of
salvation. In a newfound burst of confidence, it relocated the bhakti marg,
the way of devotion, in the pursuit of salvation. In Maharashtra this
democratizing devotional passion seems to have mainly precipitated the varkari
community in the 13th century.
13 Louis Althusser speaks about ‘Ideological State Apparatus’ in
which bhakti also can be considered. As in bhakti ideology operates in varkaris
mind where they have internalized and submitted themselves to this ideology.
Althusser says any submission would lead to asking no question and no more
thinking.
The untouchable saint-poet Chokhamela
in particular whose life captures the typical uncertainty of Hinduism: it’s
liberating intellectual plurality and its equally restricting social
construction. His is perhaps one of the first, if not the very first,
marginalized voices in Indian history. There is very little in very first,
marginalized voices in Indian history. There is very little in the way of
recorded history of Chokhamela’s life.
Chokha was a Mahar, one of the lowest
in the Hindu hierarchy of castes and as such his duties, too seem to have
involved like other in his situation, tasks menial in nature. Mahars, as other
Untouchables, are considered outcastes in the sense of being outside the
four-fold varna system, although they are all member of various Untouchable
castes. Their identity in society is shaped through a series of cancellation.
Chokha’s habitual place seems to have
been at the foot of the outer doors of the temple, on the threshold. His poems
quite simply and humbly refer to his standing there, quite without self-pity
and certainly without resentment. He is rarely angry, but sometimes he does
strip away the facades of religious hypocrisy to expose human cruelties.
Chokhamela’s poetry in short, quietly reverses the normative understanding of
divinity and social structure. Chokha questions pollution and untouchability.
He is too intelligent not to perceive the self-interest of the powerful classes
behind the façade of religion, but his heart full of love seems to melt anger
into understanding (Mokashi-Punekar, 2005).
Eleanor Zelliot writes about saint Chokhamela
in ‘The search of Chokhamela’ that, the Dindi to Pandharpur of
Chokhamela has been diminished to a few old folk and the once crowded Dharmashala
in Pandharpur is empty except for three or four varkaris. The Chokhamela
temple in Dehu was at one time a place of worship, but only Mahars came. Now it
is empty and has become a hatbhatti, a place selling illicit liquor, but
as Sadanand More writes ironically, all castes now come to the temple which
they once used to avoid.
Also Shivaji More Dehu Sansthan (Ex-President)
informed that, Chokhamela was great Saint in Varkari Sampraday but in
Mangalvedha unfortunately we don’t have his temple. Mangalvedha is place where
he born. Also in Alandi, Pandharpur chokhoba’s temple isn’t there. In Dehu we
have his temple. We are planning to request government to renovate it.
Chokhamela was untouchable saint
hence his poetry has been least considered. His poetry highlights darkness of
life, pain and sufferings of people. As Zelliot points out Chokhamela’s temple
has been turned into hatbhatti which means how Chokhamela’s history has
been tore apart from history of tradition or intentionally blurred.
Chokhamela and his family have been
marginalized figures in the bhakti movement. But after seven centuries,
he still commands interest, affection, wonderment. He and his family still have
the power to speak to us of pain and piety, of devotion and degradation, of the
ever-lasting hope that manuski, Dr. Ambedkar’s favourite word, and will triumph
(Zelliot, 2005).
CHAPTER 3 - VARI AS AN EVENT
Vari as tradition is been flourished from
ancient time. But now if we see it contemporary perspective, it is also
celebrated as an event now. People who involved it actively are mostly those
who have tradition in home going to Pandharpur with Varkaris. And those who
passively participate are been directed by media, surrounding atmosphere,
‘others participation’ and hence it became ‘event’. Advertisements, media
content creates atmosphere of celebrating a festival by repetition of content
or invoking idea of ‘culture’. Surrounding atmosphere is been ‘created’. Idea
of other participating in culture event and not we is also lead to larger
participation.
1)
Personal
Experience
It was evening 6pm when I reached at
Chinchwad in Pune. My friend Prashant’s uncle came to pick me up at the
Chinchwad station. While going at
uncle’s place we stuck in the traffic because of long queue of varkaris who
were crossing the road. When I was sitting on bike, one 9-10 years old boy came
to me and put varkari’s ashthgandh on my and uncle’s forehead and waited
to take money from me. I gave him around 10 rupees. This boy did same thing
with others who was standing in the traffic. I don’t know how much boy knows
about varkari and meaning of putting this ashtgandh but doesn’t matter
he was earning money out of it for his daily needs.
When we reached at uncle’s place (in
Nigadi) all women were preparing dinner for varkaris. Contributing for
making food for varkaris is assumed as ‘privileged’ in terms if you
can’t be part of varkaris then at least you can be part of their needs
which gives you ‘blessings’ and ‘virtue’ in return.
In Tukaram’s palkhi behind chariot Dindi
number 16 takes halt at Prashant’s uncle’s place every year. So every year they
offer dinner for this Dindi varkaris. This varkari did bhajana
and aarti before having dinner. While serving food women and men sat in
different rooms but they had food all along no preference to male for having
food which we generally observe in the hindu homes. After finishing dinner varkaris are not
allowed to take their plates to the kitchen, their plates are taken by server,
this again consider as virtue for server. After everyone done with their dinner
we went to sleep around 12.30am and next morning we had to get up at 4 am to
start walking from Akurdi to Pune station. I got up on time and waited for my
turn to take bath. When you want to be with Varkari for procession you
have to be quick in taking bath, having food and in other daily chores.
I came in tempo with Dindi varkaris
from Nigadi to Akurdi for joining the procession. This tempo(vehicle) is second
home for all varkaris going till Pandharpur. All their clothes,luggauge,
utensils are kept in this temp. It was 5 am in the morning and long queues of varkaris
walking on the roads with flag, Dindi number plate, tulsi, veena,
mrudunga, taal, etc. Varkari’s bhajana, hailing ‘Dnyanoba, tukaram’ and
no disturbance of vehicles on the roads and everyone in their bhakti. In
vari, to refer other varkari called ‘mauli’ irrespective of age,
caste and gender. This is one of the appreciable nature to address others which
shows ‘equality’.
My friend Prashant’s brother and
grandmother helped me a lot during Vari. Before entering in the procession I
was told by Prashant’ grandmother, to touch ground and put little soil on
forehead. It is varkaris belief that this soil becomes ‘sacred’ after
chariot of saint’s padukas and varkaris went on it. Structure of Dindi arranged as, one man
holding Dindi number plate at the starting, then woman holding tulsi
plant on her head and other varkaris singing abhangas behind one main
person of vari, this person either Dindi owner or Dindi leader. One
veenekari (holding Veena) is also compulsory for establishment of
Dindi. In our Dindi only
Maratha caste people were there. One thing is prominent in Varkaris that
you can be part of varkaris through participating in their different related
activities but you cannot be ‘Varkari’. For being varkari you have
to wear Tulsimala, put ashtgandh, hail ‘Jayharikrishna’ and go
to the Pandharpur for Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashi. Hence you will be
treated as equal or being part of ‘them’ but you will still remain ‘other’.
People standing outside the road were
distributing chikkis, rajgira laddus, water, biscuits etc. for gaining ‘virtues’
from varkaris. We took first break around 9.30am, as we all were walking on the
service road. We sat there to relax and having breakfast. During break I went to chat with Prashant’s
Grandfather Jagnnath Hinge who is caretaker and owner of Dindi, he told
me about varkari sampraday and its inclusive nature but he also
criticized that ‘earlier vari was much in discipline but nowadays people
are taking it lightly, no discipline maintained by people’. Also when I asked
him about other caste people participation in vari so he said, ‘all
kinds of people participate in Vari. Some lower caste people also
participate in vari but their representation is limited.’ I asked ajoba about
toilet facilities for varkari, he replied From Pune station to Pandharpur we
have ‘Nirmalvari Abhiyan’ where thousands of toilets provided under this
programme joint venture with Maharshtra State government, but we don’t need such
facility in Pune may be because it’s city’.
After finishing breakfast we all
joined procession. As distribution of food was going on one side but I couldn’t
see any toilet facility for women, as men can go anywhere but woman can’t go in
open place.
In the procession I took Tulsi
plant on my head for some time. We took lunch break after some time. Here lunch arrangement was done by local
people. I was told by other varkaris that we have to finish food fastly
because one more dindi going to come here for lunch. So I sat with woman
varkaris and finished my lunch. Here also no specific arrangement of
toilets for women varkaris. Our lunch break was for two hours so some varkaris
prefer to take nap after lunch, some talk with other varkaris. After
finishing lunch break we started walking in the procession, here chariot was
little slow so I could see and take darshan of chariot where Tukaram’s paduka
were held. Around 5pm we took small
break of half-hour. Here all Dindis formed their own circle while
seating and started playing fugadi or dancing by saying ‘Dnyanoba-
mauli-Tukaram’. I also played fugadi.
Fugadi is mostly performed by female during Ganpati-Gauri festival but
here men and women were both playing.
After half-hour break we all started
walking towards Pune station. I asked our dindi’s veenekari from
how long he is been going to vari, he told me it’s been more than 20 years, his
wife was also varkari’. I aksed him, are women not veenekari in
the vari so he replied, ‘women are also veenekari in the vari but very
less in number, his wife was veenekari
when she was alive.’ When we were walking near FC college road area many
youngsters were playing fugadi or dancing, hailing abhangas, people
were taking photos with varkari, veenekari were so common. This is
contemporary celebration of varkari. Some varkaris were annoyed with
people taking selfies or photographs. They says, ‘these youngsters don’t
understand simplicity of vari. They just celebrate it without knowing it’.
We continued walk from 6 pm to 11 pm. In between no halt and also no facility
for toilets. After reaching at Pune station area there was big pandal
built for varkaris where aarti performed by varkaris and
all left to their respective Dharmshala. Prashant’s brother Shubham
accompanied me to guide about varkari’s halt and accommodation.
Prashant’s grandmother has booked one
room for ladies in the ‘Saint Gadge Maharaj Dharmshala’ so we all stayed
there. It was small room but we all adjusted, as adjustment in minimum
resources and keeping calm is another principle of being varkari. Next
day is relaxation day for varkaris. But still when I got up in the
morning around 6 am I heard sounds of taal and bhajanas with the
full of energies. On this day dindi owner had meeting with ‘Nirmalvari
Abhiyan’ organizer, I was told by Prashant’s grandfather to join this
meeting for more details on vari. Shubham came with me to attend this
meeting where all Dindi caretaker, owner had come. I observe only male
had come for this meeting. Not single woman are owner or caretaker of any dindi.
Meeting was based on how this ‘Nirmalvari Abhiyan’ going to be
held in this year and cleanliness will be maintained. This Abhiyan
providing toilets facility to Varkari in Pandharpur during Ashadhi
Ekadashi. So cleanliness of this toilets and place will be maintained by
Abhiyan volunteers, also tree plantation programme also conducted by them. After
meeting, me and Shubham went to Dharmshala. No other programme was on that day
about vari so I returned in the afternoon to Mumbai.
As vari seems to be inclusive
in nature but it has male supremacy. No hierarchical role given/assigned/done
by woman varkari, male domination perpetuated through this. Also Dyananeshwar, Tukaram’s bhajanas were
chanted prominently during the procession, no woman saint poet’s bhajanas
or name recognized much. Though Referring ‘Mauli’ to other is form of
inclusivity in vari. Also playing fugadi, eating habits are
performed together by male and female varkaris.
CHAPTER 4 – GENDERED CRITIC OF VARI
Varkari sampaday considered as inclusive in nature
irrespective of caste, class and gender, but at the same time women varkari seems
to be at ground level. Varkari women saint poets doesn’t have equal
position as male varkari saint, their poetry talks about personal
experiences within household phenomenon it’s not talking about women oppression
in the society. Also Bhakt-mother relationship is widely accepted by society.
Idea of motherhood through God, Vitthala is propagated14.
Irina Glushkova(USSR) analysed, the
concept of Women in the poems of Tukaram. Two basic premises underline these
poems: one being parallel between God and Mother concomitant with the parallel
between Bhakt (devotee) and Child: the other being that the concept of
woman is dichotomized into categories of ‘Aspired for’ and ‘Repulsed’. In this
poetry God resembles with mother as in mother’s identity of nurturing, caring
and unselfish love. So through this her womanhood is limited to these
characteristics only. Also if she can’t bear a child means if she is not mother
then she is not resemble with God, then God- bhakt relationship cannot be
created. In this manifestation as a mother, woman is ‘Aspired for’ her
anti-thesis, a woman as woman or as wife, is perennial source of carnal
temptations (Kosambi, 1991). Also Bhakt-Mother
relationship is highly valued, while the Bhakt-woman relationship is
shunned as a symbol of danger. This duality saturated Tukaram’s poetry.
1)
Woman
saint poet’s perspectives towards Bhakti
Varkari sampaday is open to all caste and
many women. It was also inclusive of householder phenomenon. Woman saint poets bhakti
towards vitthala is imagined in daily chores, it is imagined within
household. Their bhakti based on personal experiences of life.
14 Mahar were thought to be impure
because of menial jobs were assigned to them. They were considered polluting.
Woman saint poets in Varkari sampraday
are all house oriented, they all based on householder phenomenon. Their bhakti
towards Vithhala is also through different activities, practices
performed at home. Woman saint poet imagined god through household phenomenon.
Domestic practices were prominent and inseparable part of woman life even today15.
Woman is not imagined as alone, independent human being in Indian context hence
her bhakti is also contextualized within house domain16.
Patriarchy does exist in woman
saint-poet’s life. Hierarchy perpetuated through controlling her day to day
activities. As bhakti is personal devotion but that was also controlled
or internalized in such a way that woman has to look bhakti from
household only. The typology developed by A.K. Ramanujan for women saints-
early dedication to God, denial of marriage, defying societal norms,
initiation, marrying the Lord- does not apply to either Soyrabai or Nirmala as
it does not to Muktabai or Janabai, other women poets of the period, nor do
they qualify as being ‘superior to their husbands’, which Ramanujan notes is
the pattern of saint’s wives. Soyrabai and Nirmala write of family, of their
devotion to the god Vithoba, of the joyous pilgrimage to Pandharpur, of the
various ways of maintaining the household and still finding true freedom
(Zelliot, 2005).
Bhakti makes a language for aspiration and
desire, through a notion of personal devotion and more direct communication
with a compassionate god, which is embedded within experiential base-particular
sorts of hierarchical, patriarchal and feudal relations-a location which
defines both the power and the vulnerability of such a language. Once
assimilated into mainstream Hinduism, the critical edge of dissenting forms of bhakti
is dull, yet the language remains evocative, long after the movements have
themselves waned, because its experiential base has altered but not disappeared
(Sangari, 1990).
15 Idea of womanhood is constructed
through only considering woman as mother possessing love, affection and
sacrifice for her family.
16 Woman body is socially and culturally constructed from
ancient time through which male domination is celebrated in different ritual
performance and religious practices.
The bhakti movement that
allowed women to transcend the physical constraints imposed on them by
institutions of caste, marriage, and female seclusion. Women saint poets wrote
about their ‘lived’ experiences. Women saint poet from elite and from the lower
reaches of society write, but not those of agriculturally-based middle. The
‘vein’ is realism and writing based on personal experiences. Muktabai, the
sister of the founder Dnyaneshwar, begins the line of women saint-poets in the 13th
century; Janabai, the maidservant of Namdev, along with the wife and mother of
Namdev and his daughters and daughters-in-law continue the tradition in the 14th
century; Kanhopatra, the dancing girl, adds her unusual voice; the saint
Chokhamela’s wife and sister Soyrabai and Nirmala, add voices from the
Untouchable community; and Bahinabai, the Brahman woman who brought her husband
with her to become a disciple of Tukaram, brings the woman saint poet line to
an end in the 17th century17.
The writing of women saints was
seen for long time, in fact up to 1975,only as a part of the spiritual realm,
and women saints like Muktabai and Janabai were treated as woman who had already
transcended the physiological division of humans into ‘man’ and ‘woman’. But in
this process it was ignored that women saints were very much a symbiotic part
of the Varkari masses. They were also a part of the social historic
reality of the Marathi-speaking region.
The first phase of women's literature
in Marathi covers a period from 13th century AD to the beginning of colonial
rule at the end of the 18th century. During these six centuries we come across
a long line of women saints. They followed one after the other with amazing
regularity. Some of them are known and cherished in all Maharashtrian
households. Women of all castes and regions in Maharashtra - Janabai, Muktabai,
Gonai, Rajai, Ladai, Kanhopatra and Bahinabai - have left a rich body of
literature. This is no accident. All men saints in the Varkari movement
always supported the cause of women. Eknath is considered to be one of the four
pillars of this tradition. Zelliot has translated one of his songs 'Amba,
satvar pav ge mala' [Zelliot 1987:98-99]:
Save me now Mother
I'll offer you bread, Bhawani
Father-in-law is out of town
Let him die there
I'll offer you bread. Mother Bhawani
Mother-in-law torments me
Kill her off
I'll offer you bread. Mother Bhawani
Sister-in-law nags and nags
Make her a widow I'll offer you
bread, Bhawani
Her brat cries and cries
Give him the itch
I'll offer you bread. Bhawani
I'll give my husband as a sacrifice'
free me mother!
I'll offer you bread. Bhawani
Eka Janardan says
Let them all die
Let me live, alone!
The song offers a classic example of
the Varkari understanding of women's problems. Zelliot writes, "A
woman's plea to the Goddess for deliverance from husband and in-laws is, one of
Eknath's most popular bharuds today - in spite of the fact that it
counters the image of the devoted wife."
Janabai, for example. She was born
into a shudra (low caste) family and functioned as a dasi. i.e.
as a bonded domestic servant. While the tradition insists that the household in
which she worked brought her up benevolently as one of its own, the fact
remains that Janabai always identified herself as "Dasi/Jani. Her
poetry is full of references to the hard chores which she had to perform, which
deprived her of the space necessary for a dialogue with her own emancipator
God. Janabai recovered her status as a free and autonomous human being. Her
poems offer us a combination of a deeply felt sorrow, a product of the fact
that she was born as woman, and a confident assertion that she could in real
life undermine the cultural confines which denied identity to her kind.
Then take Muktabai.
Do you desire self realization?
Then do not blindly follow others.
Search for the truth in your own self
There lies wisdom.
[Tatiche Abhanga 1978: 12]
Muktabai’s thoughts in her century
were remarkable. She has understood myth of living life. Searching truth by own
self is modern thought which was told by her in 12th century17.
Tatiche Abhanga is enlightening abhangas for Dnyaneshwar depicted
by Muktabai. Muktabai is the one who told about sainthood to Dnyaneshwar and
how sainthood is important in society to deal with their miserable life. In
that sense we can say she is the major character who gave strong back up and
boost to Saint Dnyaneshwar for being pillar of Varkari sampraday. But in
Varkari sampraday her role isn’t consider that much important. My point is here
that in Varkari sampraday Tukaram and Dyanoba are more recognized, praised and
flourished saints. But the person who did enlightening
17 Finding truth by own self is modern thought
it connected with idea of questioning and doubting the existed phenomenon hence
finding truth which is understand by you i.e. giving individual freedom to
think.
in Dnyaneshwar’s life was not equally
praised that much.
The strength of her character and
conviction is attested by the following myth which is popular in Varkari circles.
It is recorded in the Hari vijay a popular text of the Varkaris. Once when
Muktabai was bathing in the nude, Changdev, a reputed male yogi, happened to
come that way. When he saw her, he turned his back in shame, Muktabai found
fault with his behaviour, as he was known as an accomplished yogi. She told him
quite bluntly that:
One is not ashamed to stare at
the niches in the wall
Do the cows grazing
in the fields have any clothes!
I too am like the cows.
Why are you embarrassed at my sight?
As Ramanujan has remarked "...
By exposing the difference between male and female, by becoming indifferent to
that difference, she is liberated from it-and liberates anyone who will attend
to it" [Ramanujan 1973: 13]. In time period of 12-13th century
Muktabai gave this knowledge of gender separation. Clothing which attached to
human body is part of civilization hence what is inside that artificial
clothing is more important. Muktabai’s such knowledge is still relevant in today’s
context.
Bahinabai was the last great woman
saint in this tradition. Even though a brahmin by birth, she accepted Tukaram,
a great Varkari saint of shudra origins, as her guru. This created a
crisis in his personal life. As Feldhouse relates "...with wounded pride,
unable to understand devotional religion, and lull of the prejudice of his high
caste and superior sex, Bahina's husband prepared to leave her.' (Feldhaus
1982: 5961.) In a perceptive account of Bahinabai's life and work Hardy has
noted: "it is certainly true that some general complex, say 'bhakti',
was operative in Bahina's environment independently from whatever personal
application an individual might use it for. Nevertheless Bahina shows quite
clearly that such complexes become alive only in specific, individual contexts
that might in fact modify them considerably... And this resource itself was by
no means pre-given to her; it came about through unconscious struggle and
personal choice. The result too throws light on her Hinduism'. She emerges as a
woman who had come to terms with the problem of Iife, ready to take on a
positive, active note, and who at the same time knows that... life has come to
an end for her". Bahinabai was strong enough to defy the traditional ideal
of a 'pativrata' (a loyal wife) defended by the orthodox patriarchal order. She
chose to interpret her 'pativratadharma'18 in a startlingly novel manner. She, concludes that
women as also men who live their worldly lives with a sense of 'nijananda
gnana' (supreme self realisation) are true wives. The path of a true wife is as
necessary for a man as it is for a woman. A measure of Bahinabai's achievement
can be gained from the fact that in the end she actually managed to convert her
husband to the Varkari sect. She persuaded him even to accept Tukaram as
his guru! Bahinabai also interpreted her duty towards her child in a
revolutionary manner. She bore only one child and regretted this bitterly.
Using a strategy totally different from the stereotype handed down by the
patriarchal order through the centuries she transformed her child in her mind
and treated him as a companion in a former life. Bahinabai must have gained
this daring and independence of mind through her close contact with the living
tradition of emancipator resistance waged by the outstanding women saints from
the 13th century to her own 18th century (Bhagwat, 1995).
Identity of this Varkari saint
is established in relation to their male gurus or mentors. Like Jani of Namya,
Muktai of Dnyaneshwar, Bahinabai of Tukaram. All these prominent women saints seem
to be internalized hegemonic order and legitimizing through their existence and
work. But also we need to think of literature which they have produced in their
specific era talking about individual and social problem. Also their class and
caste experience and household problems are needed to be taken in consideration
while
18 Pativratadharma is wifely duty. This concept is highly
patriarchal and hence under this woman subjugation, oppression done directly or
indirectly.
reading their literature in
contemporary context. Women
saint poets in Maharashtra has adherence to their husband and household. Saint
Bahinabai was not attached to brahminical orthodoxy hence she wrote greater
freedom for women.
‘The upper caste male’s battle is
with the system as a whole, often internalized as the enemy within, whereas a
woman saint’s struggle is with family and family values.’ The woman saint
remains feminine because ‘she has nothing to shed: neither physical prowess,
nor social power, nor rudeness, nor even spiritual pride. She is already where
she needs to be, in these saints legends’.
Jayant Lele in his edited work on bhakti
Movements (1981) makes observations about women saints in the context of
the tradition-modernity debate. He argues that when dharma speaks only
as an oppressive moment, as a duty from which the joy of performance has been
stolen, it becomes coercive. He sees saint women’s rebellious posture v/s the
social order in the context of their reality as communally exchanged young
brides in an alien patriarchal/patrilocal family, in an often hostile
household.
Women saints were seen as
‘extraordinarily courageous and creative women who asserted right to their own
life as they defined it’. Their writing was seen as a celebration their
individual choice and their religious path as an escape from the narrow
confines of domesticity. Susie Tharu and K.Lalitha compiling an anthology of
Women Writing in India (1995: 35) argue that, ‘we might indeed learn to read
them not for the moments in which they collude with or reinforce dominant
ideologies of gender, class nation or empire, but for the gestures of defiance
or subversion implicit in them.’ Tharu observes the path of devotion set up no
barriers of caste or sex. The women poets of the bhakti movements did
not have to seek the institutionalized spaces religion provided to express
themselves and women’s poetry moved from the court and the temple to the open
spaces of the field, the workplace and the common women’s health. Within an
economy where the labour of women and the surplus production of the peasant and
artisan are customarily and 'naturally' appropriated by the ruling groups, the
high Hindu traditions sought to encompass and retain the management of
spiritual 'surplus' and to limit its availability along lines of caste and
gender. In this spiritual economy, the liberalizing and dissenting forms of bhakti
emerge as a powerful force which selectively uses the metaphysic of high
Hinduism (maya, karma and rebirth), in an attempt to create an in appropriable
excess or transcendent value grounded in the dailiness of a material life
within the reach of all. Even if bhakti does not substantively break the
boundaries of high Hindu traditions it redefines these in content, modality and
address, i.e., in what is said, how it is said (orally-in defiance of the
centralization of knowledge in written texts), and who it is said to
(Sangari1990).
2) Intersectionality in Vari
The bhakti movement indicates
that although there clearly was equality on a spiritual plane and some of the
poets, both Untouchable and Brahmin, condemned caste, no specific social
movement for an egalitarian society arose from the bhaktas.
The regular pilgrimage of the Varkaris
to Pandharpur provides one of the clearest symbolic expressions of the unity of
Maharashtra, bringing together as it does pilgrims of many different castes
from all parts of the Marathi-speaking region (Karve, 1962).
The
songs of saints must have been kept orally for generations, sung by pilgrimages
going to Pandharpur, so those specifically about untouchability might have been
considered inappropriate for the joyous pilgrimage. As we said earlier also
Tukaram and Dnyaneshwar bhajanas and abhangas are widely praised
and sung by varkaris. Soyrabai and Janabai are known to varkaris but
they aren’t praised much though they have provided brick to form varkari
sampraday.
Eleanor
Zelliot points out in ‘Untouchable Saints’(2005) that 62 abhangas of
Soyrabai and 24 of Nirmala appear in the collected works of all the
saints, they have received very little popular or scholarly attention. Only two
of Soyrabai’s abhangas have found their way into the popular
Maharashtrian tradition. Soyrabai refers to herself as hin, i.e. low or
base. But she does refer in an indirect way to the restrictions to which the
Mahars were subjected. Both Nirmala and Soyrabai speak joyfully of coming to
the great door of the temple at Pandharpur, implying but not saying directly
that they could not go inside to see the image itself.
As Varkari
tradition assumed inclusive in nature for all but in 14th century
Soyrabai and Nirmala has to face discriminations. Though they reached to
Pandharpur but couldn’t allow in temple. Bhakti seen as less important
than these women saint poet’s caste identity. Due to their caste and gender
identity they have been seen as more vulnerable19. In Zelliot’s
(USA) paper’ A new Voice: Dalit Women’s Poetry’. The sophisticated poetry of
few educated Dalit women selected for analysis revealed four different but not
necessarily conflicting voices: an identification with gender across caste; a
sense of double oppression by caste Hindus and by Dalit men; a sense of unity
as members of Dalit movement spearheaded by Ambedkar and a strong criticism of
the current Dalit social and political leadership as lacking genuineness.
19 Due to caste and gender intersectionality woman
becomes more vulnerable in all the ways. Her position is considered lower. She
is been oppressed, deprived socially.
CONCLUSION
Varkari sampraday is well known in Maharashtra. It has
built its own way to challenge hindu tradition through bhakti movement. Bhagavata
sampradayis Vaishnavi bhakti tradition. It is inclusivein nature.
All different sampraday has merged into varkari sampraday, also
it is for all like farmer, trader, peasants etc. hence it is assumed as
greatestsampraday. But still there are minute loopholes in the varkari
sampraday.
In varkarisampraday all
address each other by ‘mauli’ irrespective of caste, gender, class and
age where equality principle is followed through appearance and verbal
expression.Bhajana and kirtana which is performed in Dindi
during vari procession helps to bring people together. The idea of
sinking all in one tune is flourished in varkari sampraday. Idea of
saint is privileged in sampraday. Sainthood is without the thought of
‘I” and ‘mine’and regards pain and pleasure. Varkari sampraday also made
clear distinction between Saint and Sadhu. Sadhu is solely dedicated to
achieving moksa (liberation), the fourth and
final aśrama (stage of life), through meditation
and contemplation of Brahman.However sainthood is much ahead that
and prefer to live with the people and tell, discuss with people how to deal
with life’s circumstances and misery. Saint concept has been formed within
varkari panth and saint is addressed to those who are idolatry person in
sampraday but even in Mahanubhav panth this addressing name was different but
this concept of ‘saint’ is generalized by scholars who studied it and addressed
saint of different sampraday. Varkari saint has done path breaking
reform through bhajanas and abhangas,they have worked on social
exclusion not by movement but through erasing hierarchical thinking of people.
Vari procession brings people together.
Pilgrimage has idea of public performance. People come together voluntarily and
feel synergy between them. The idea of sharing, collectively working for each
other also get developed here.This collective behavior makes people to leave
out routine life, think beyond ‘I’ and ‘my family’. Also River is form of
joining different people through sharing commonness. Religious places which
have pilgrimages are situated on or near river. Also this public is ‘created’;
outward expression of the self is decided in bhakti movement. Also
Varkari are those who are part of procession i.e. Dindi samaj who are
not Varakari are ‘mokla samaj’, they are included in procession happily
but idea of them as ‘other’ is there at certain extent.
Bhakti movement is based on concept
of devotion to god. This devotion requires human body. Varkari can’t separate
them without bhakti. Varkari tradition challenged brahminism. Varkari sampraday
brings simplicity in religious discourse. saint-poets of this great tradition
composed the devotional songs in their respective languages to attack
brahmanical Sanskrit language. Saint poet Dnyaneshwar, Tukaram, Chokhamela,
Muktabai, Janabai, Soyrabai, Bahinabai and many other saint poet have done
tremendous knowledge creation for common people.
From Shivaji period religiosity of
rulers seems more to do with indian tradition. Rulers associated them with
hindu dharma identity for religious and cultural base. Hence Varkari
tradition also praised in this period. But in Peshva Varkari sampraday
wasn’t appreciated, it was overlooked because varkari tradition which
based on Bhagwat dharma was non-brahmanical. Saint
Dnyaneshwar explains the world is maya through ‘Dnyaneshwari’ a commentary on
Bhagvadgita. His translation of Bhagwadgita in Marathi was path breaking. He
simplifies Bhagwadgita for common people and made it accessible for all. Saint
Tukaram also conceptualized bhakti for all. He extended image worship
and guided to work for society who is part of you and you are part of it. Saint
Chokhamela’s abhanga aren’t been much flourished. He has raised
marginalized voice from his poetry. Untouchable identity in society is shaped
through a series of cancellation. Chokha questions pollution and
untouchability. Also there is only one temple of Chokhamela’s in Maharashtra
but that is also in bad position which needs to be renovated. So when Varkari
sampraday claimed they have inclusivity for all kind of people then why
Untouchable saint identity why is been flourished.
In Vari procession all
varkaris forget their routine life and adjust themselves according to Dindi
timetable. Adjusting daily chores in limited timing and place without any
complaints is followed throughout. This idea is been internalized by Varkari.
Also this has another angle of looking it as idea of collectivity where
different people participate for common interest.
‘Nirmalvari Abhiyan’ is one of the
appreciable programme has been started in Varkari sampraday. They have
built up artificial toilets for varkaris in Pandharpur. They haven’t put
up such toilets in Pune, but they are planning to do that in future. Searching
for toilets as a woman is major issues which come across in the Vari
procession. To making aware about this Abhiyan, organizer has conducted
meeting of Dindi organizer. But in this meeting only male were there.
Not single woman were presented as Dindi caretaker or owner. It also
means that woman are part of procession but not at the hierarchical or decision
making position. But adding to this information that what Shivaji More
Ex-president of Dehu Sansthan said Woman varkari also take initiative
and leading position. But I couldn’t come across with this in reality. There
are varkari woman who supports and look after other women but they are
not recognized as hierarchical position.
There is no doubt that male saint
poet also written about woman. Saint Eknath wrote Bharud which actually
counters image of devoted wife. But also we need to look at another side of it.
Varkari woman is considered as parallel between God and mother in
tukaram’s poetry. This means woman is always dichotomized into ‘aspired for’
and ‘repulsed’ characteristics. Woman socialization through religious and
cultural practices is discourse which is followed everywhere. Woman saint-poet
Muktabai’s great contribution ‘Tatiche Abhanga’ to varkari sampraday is
path breaking. Here she counsel and console Saint Dnyaneshwar and told him
about sainthood and how it is need of society. But she isn’t famous as equal to
saint Dnayneshwar, I mean she is recognized but her identity as Saint
Dnyaneshwar’s sister saint Muktabai. Also saint Janabai known as maidservant of
Namdev, Soyrabai as wife of Chokhamela and Bahinabai as disciple of Tukaram.
Saint Janabai’s poems are combination of a deeply felt sorrow. She was busy in
hard chores of life all the time due to which she couldn’t manage to create
space necessary for a dialogue with her own emancipator God. Whereas Saint
Bahinabai has written poetry about routine life. She interprets ‘pativratadharma’
as women as also men who live their worldly lives with the sense of supreme
self realization are true wives. Lower caste saint poets like Soyrabai,
Janabai’ bhajans are hardly sung in procession. They have received very little
popular or scholarly attention. All woman saint poets wrote tremendous poetry
and created great knowledge about Vitthala, bhakti, sainthood but their
identity being represented behind male gurus or male saint. Hierarchy
controlled woman saint poets. Women saint poets look bhakti and
conceptualize it only through household perspective. But also we can’t demean
that knowledge considering contemporary context. Because what knowledge they
have created through poetry is tremendous and path breaking in that time
period. Also through Vari procession woman could come in open spaces of the
field.
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