Pandharpur Swami

                                    Lord   Pandharpur 

The Story of Pundarika

There was once merchant named Pundarika in the town now known as Pandarpur. He was extremely greed and saw his parents as a road block to his prosperity when they became old and infirm and so decided to drive them out of his home. Fortunately for them, they were able to join a group of poor devotees who were going to Varanasi by foot. Later Pundarika himself undertook the pilgrimage to Varanasi but in horse drawn chariot. He crossed his parents on his way, but did not even bother to stop.

After some time, when Pandurika stopped on the bank of a river to rest, he met Rohit Das, a cobbler who had a hermitage by the river bank. Rohit das, though extremely poor, spent all of his time taking care of his parents, even if that meant that he disregard his own comforts. That night, Pandurika saw three ugly women taking bath in the pond of the hermitage and rising up as divine beings. He asked them who they were and they answered that they were the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari. They had to bear the sins left by people who bathed in them and got cleansed by coming to the Hermitage of Rohit Das.

A sea of change descended on Pundarika. He went back to his parents, begged for forgiveness and from that time onward, spent all his time caring for them. One day Maha Vishnu took the form of a cowherd boy and went to the house of Pundarika. He was told by Pundarika that, he was busy in looking after his parents and did not have time to take proper care of him. Lord Vishnu, informed him, who He was but Pundarika apologized for not being able to receive him as he was too busy taking care of his parents. He gave Lord Vishnu a brick to stand on and asked him to wait there until he was done with his parent's care. Since that day, Lord Vishnu has been standing on that brick. The name of the town is now Pandarpur after Pandurika and the Lord was given the name Vittala or brick since he stands on a brick.

The Story of Rukmini

Once, Queen Rukmini got upset at Lord Krishna (Lord Dwaarkaadisha) and in her anger, left him and went to the Pandharpur Forest. Lord Dwaarkaadish followed her there to supplicate her and also visit his devotee Pundarika.

Story of Lord Coming Here to Meet Pundalik

The Padma Purana and the Skanda Purana briefly describe why the Lord journeyed to Pandharpur and why He stays there in this form.

Once Srimati Radharani, Lord Krishna's consort in the village of Vrindavana, visited Dvaraka, where Lord Krishna lived as a king. At that time, Rukmini Devi, Lord Krishna's queen, noticed that Krishna was dealing more intimately with Radharani than He had ever done with her. Upset, she departed for the forest of Dindirvana, near Pandharpur.

Lord Krishna followed Rukmini to apologize, but His apology left her unmoved. So the Lord moved on to Pandharpur to visit one of His devotees, Bhakta Pundarika, now popularly known in Maharashtra as

Pundalika.

Lokanath Maharaj mentions in his book that  Pundalik  in his young age never looked after the needs of his father Janudev and his mother Satyavati. Both Janudev and Satyavati were great devotees of lord Krishna.  when Pundalik got married he started ill treating them all the more. Tired of his tyranny, the parents decided to head for Kashi / Varanasi. It is said that those who die in Kashi attain salvation and liberation from the cycle of birth and death. This is still believed today and many people travel there when they feel their end is near. Hearing his parents plans, Pundalik and his wife decided to join them. His treachery continued so much that he made his old parents walk throughout the journey while he and his young wife rode on a horse.

 On the way, they came across the hermitage of the great sage, Kakkut muni. Tired of the long journey, the group decided to spend some days there. That night, Pundalik lay awake and witnessed something remarkable. Just before dawn, he saw a group of beautiful, young women dressed in dirty clothes, enter the Sage's hermitage. They did chores like cleaning the floor, fetching water and washing the Sage's clothes. After that, they went to the prayer room. When they came out, their clothes were spotlessly clean and they disappeared. Pundalik wasn't alarmed seeing this but rather he felt at peace. He kept thinking about the incident the following day. He wanted to be sure that he was not dreaming but had truly witnessed such a glorious incident. So he remained awake again. But this time, he got closer and decided to speak to the women.

"Who are you all?" "We are Ganga, Yamuna and all the holy rivers of India. People take a dip and bathe in us to wipe away their sins. The impurity of their mind, body and souls make us dirty. That's why you see our clothes in such filthy condition." Pundalik was amazed with their answer.

"But you are the biggest sinner of all because of the way you treat your devotee parents."

This was a rude awakening for Pundalik. He realized his mistake and changed his ways. He served his parents well and looked after all their needs and comforts.  Seeing Pundalik's sincere devotion and service towards his parents, Lord Krishna  was extremely pleased.

When the Lord reached Pundarika’s asrama , Pundarika was serving his elderly parents. So Pundarika gave the Lord a seat of brick and asked the Lord to wait. The Lord did as told. He stood, lotus hands on His hips, waiting for Pundarika to return.

While He was waiting, Rukmini, having forgotten her distress, came from Dindirvana and rejoined Him. Both of Them stayed in Pandharpur in Deity form. To this day the Lord stands on the same brick, but now He’s waiting for all His devotees to come see Him.

While waiting, the Lord seems to tell the devotees, “Do not fear. For those who have surrendered unto Me, I have reduced the depth of the ocean of material suffering. See, it is only this deep.”

He indicates the shallowness of the ocean by placing His hands on His hips.

Elegantly dressed in yellow and other colors, Lord Vitthala wears around His neck a vaijayanti garland and tulasi, whose aroma permeates the darsana hall and the surrounding area. His right hand holds a lotus flower and His left a conchshell. On His chest He bears the mark of Bhrgu’s foot. His ears are decorated with shark-shaped earrings, and on His forehead beneath His crown is a broad mark of tilaka. The Lord’s smile irresistibly enchants His devotees. Each pilgrim who approaches Him gets a glimpse of His peaceful smiling face and considers this the perfection of life.

Lord Krishna comes in  search for Rukmini in Dindirvan

Pundalika offers Lord Krishna  a brick to wait upon.

Pundalika Temple:
The Pundalika Temple is about half a km from the Vitthala Temple. This temple marks the spot where Pundalika, the Lord’s devotee, spent the last years of his life and also is place of his Samadhi. It is on the riverbank of Chandrabhaga.

Pundalika Temple

Who was Pundalika in his Last Life ?

Lokanath Maharaj writes in his book that in his Last Life Pundalika was the Famous king Mucukunda who is mentioned in Srimad bhagavtam to be blessed to sleep for long in a secluded cave. The story illustrates further how Lord Krishna very expertly arranged the killing of Kalayauvana and also blessed Mucukunda . The same mucukunda was reborn again as Pundalika. (Bhu-Vaikuntha pandharpur, page 46).

For more details of Pundalika’s last life as King Mucukundas read here… 

http://vedabase.com/en/kb/51

Above is deity of Pundalik at his temple