rukmini panduranga -vii

One day, Sant Dnyaneshwar and Namdev were passing by...

and they knew that Panduranga and Rukmini were serving Gora Kumbhar.

So they went there and did Harikatha. When they went there and did Hari Katha, they had Darshan of Panduranga and Rukmini serving Gora Kumbhar. And of course, they didn’t want Panduranga and Rukmini to stay with Gora Kumbhar in his village.

So they said to Gora Kumbhar: "Please, let’s go for pilgrimage to Pandarpur, let’s go and have Darshan of Panduranga and Rukmini."

So, he thought: ‘That is a very good idea! Let’s go!"

And of course, when he left, he said to the other two: "You look after the shop."

They said: "Don’t worry, we will look after the shop."

But how can the Lord be where the devotee is not?

The Lord is where the devotee is, no?

So, when the devotee left, of course Panduranga and Rukmini also disappeared. They started following Namdev and Dnyaneshwar, and they finally reached Pandarpur.

When they reached Pandarpur, there was bhajan and kirtan happening. Namdev was singing in such an ecstatic mood, and he was dancing.  Everybody in the assembly was dancing, you know, all of them were dancing with their hands up, singing ‘Panduranga, Panduranga’.

It was so ecstatic that Gora Kumbhar was instantly taken by the waves and the bhav. He just got up and started dancing, and lifted his hands up, you know, which he had broken three years back.

-

Seeing that, his wife and everyone was shocked.

And said: "Wow, you have restored the hands of Gora Kumbhar!"

With this miracle, everybody was applauding, and everybody became more ecstatic in singing the Name of Panduranga.

When this happened, the wife stood in front of the deity of Panduranga, and said: "You have restored the hands and the arms of my husband. Please, if you are truly the merciful Lord like everybody says, I beg you, give me my son back!"

The moment she said that, just behind Panduranga, a six-year-old boy came out, and of course, she recognised her son that had been crushed. He had been taken by Rukmini, and Rukmini had looked after that child for three years.

So, when the son appeared, the other two helpers from the shop appeared too. And Gora Kumbhar said: "Why have you left the shop? Who will look after the shop?"

Then Namdev and Dnyaneshwar said: "These two are not really who you think they are. Actually, these two are none other than Rukmini and Panduranga themselves."

So, hearing that the Lord was at their place serving them, that Bhagavan Himself was serving them, they didn’t know what to say. They just fell down at their Feet.

Then Panduranga and Rukmini transformed into their true aspect...

and disappeared back into the vigraha.


~vishwananda~
inauguration speech
April 14th, 2019