Samarth Ramdas Swami

Ramdas was one of the greatest saints of the world. He was the inspirer of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He was born of Suryaji Panth and Renuka Bai Thosar in Jamb, Maharashtra, in 1608 A.D. His original name was Narayan.

Ramdas was a contemporary of Sant Tukaram. He was a great devotee of Hanuman and Lord Rama. He had Darshan of Lord Rama even when he was a boy. Lord Rama Himself initiated him.

As a boy, Ramdas acquired some knowledge of the Hindu scriptures and developed a liking for meditation and religious study. One day he shut himself in a room and began to meditate on God. When his mother asked him what he was doing, Ramdas replied that he was meditating and praying for the good of the world. His mother was surprised at the precocious religious inclination of the boy and felt happy.

When Ramdas was twelve years of age, all arrangements were made for his marriage. He sat in front of the bride. There was a screen between the bridegroom and the bride. When the priests chanted “Sawadhan!’ (Be alert), Ramdas bolted away from the place and disappeared within the twinkling of an eye.

Studies and Penances

For twelve years Ramdas stayed at Nasik on the banks of the Godavari. He used to get up very early in the morning, go into the Godavari river, and with his body half-immersed in water, recite the sacred Gayatri Mantra till about noon. Then he would go round for alms. He first offered the collected food to his Deity Sri Rama and then took it as Prasad. After resting a while, he used to attend religious discourses in the various temples of Nasik and Panchavati. Ramdas also studied Sanskrit and copied in his own hand the Ramayana of Valmiki.

Ramdas did Purascharana of the Rama Mantra of thirteen letters Sri Ram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram thirteen lakhs of times at Taakli, near Nasik, on the banks of the Godavari. After the Purascharana was over, once again Ramdas had Darshan of Lord Rama. It is said that Ramachandra ordered Ramdas to visit holy places such as Nasik, Haridwar, Kasi, etc.

Pilgrimage

Ramdas was an Advaitin and a Bhakta in one. He had this very noble quality that he never hated any religion or nation. His main object was to spread the Hindu religion throughout India.

Ramdas had not visited Pandharpur, as he had not known the existence of this holy place. One day, the tradition says, Lord Panduranga Vittal, in the form of a Brahmin, with a batch of three hundred pilgrims, appeared before Ramdas and asked him whether he had any objection to see Lord Krishna. Ramdas replied in the negative. Panduranga then took Ramdas to Pandharpur, and when the Bhaktas approached the temple, the Brahmin disappeared. Ramdas then knew that it was none other than the Lord that had brought him to that holy place. He entered the temple, and to his great surprise, found Sri Rama standing alone on a brick.

 Ramdas addressed the Deity thus: “O Lord, what are You doing here alone? Where is Your brother Lakshmana and Your consort Sita Mata? Where is Maruti and where are the monkey hordes?”. On hearing these words, the image at once transformed itself into Sri Pandarinath. Ramdas then praised Panduranga for His kindness, prostrated before Him and sang songs of joy for getting His rare Darshan. Ramdas now felt doubly convinced that the several incarnations of the Lord were but His several forms and preached that everyone should respect and worship the One who took care of one and all in the world. Ramdas then worshipped Panduranga to his heart’s content and became a frequent visitor and Bhakta of Panduranga Vittal also. In Pandharpur, Ramdas came in contact with Tukaram and other saints of Pandharpur. In his pilgrimages, Ramdas observed and studied the social, political and economic conditions of Indians and their utter helplessness in life.

How he became Guru of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj?

It is said that Sri Rama ordered Ramdas to go to the banks of the Krishna and help the cause of Shivaji, the incarnation of Siva and founder of the Kingdom of Maharashtra. Ramdas came to the Krishna and went about preaching from Mahabaleshwar to Kolhapur. He established eleven principal seats of Maruti which emphasized the importance of physical development. He installed the shrines of Sri Ramachandra at Champavati and introduced Sri Rama Navami Mahotsava and the procession of Sri Rama’s chariot.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was very eager to visit Samarth Ramdas Swami after hearing about His fame. So, he decided to go to Kondhaval chasm to meet Him. Shivaji Maharaj went there and waited till evening, but could not meet Ramdas Swami.

One day the longing to meet Samarth augmented so much that Shivaji Maharaj went to the temple of Bhavani Devi and at night, he fell asleep in front of the Devi. That night he had a vision of the radiant form of Samarth Ramdas Swami wearing paduka (wooden slippers), a saffron robe, a Japmala (Chanting beads) in His hand and a crutch under His arm. Shivaji Maharaj bowed down to Samarth Ramdas Swami and paid obeisance to Him. Ramdas Swami placed His hand on Maharaj’s head and blessed him. When Maharaj woke up in the morning, he saw that he had a coconut in his hand as a sacrament. From that day, Shivaji Maharaj started regarding Samarth Ramdas Swami as his Guru.

Later, Shivaji Maharaj did many acts of valour and Samarth Ramdas Swami himself came to Shinganwadi and visited Shivaji Maharaj.  At that time, Shivaji Maharaj had a thought of leaving his kingdom and serving Samarth for the rest of his life. On realising this thought Samarth said to Maharaj,

"O King, follow the path of Kshatriya (Warrior) Dharma. Do not abandon your Dharma even at the cost of your life. You are born to protect your subjects. Do not leave this for my service. I will come to meet you even if you just remember me. Reign your kingdom with pleasure and bliss."

Later, Samarth taught Shivaji Maharaj an ideal way of ruling a kingdom. Samarth gave a coconut, a fistful of mud, horse dung and pebbles to him as a sacrament. For Maharaj, mud meant earth, pebbles meant winning hill-forts and horse-dung meant an army of horses which was also rich. By the Guru’s grace, Shivaji Maharaj never faced shortage of anything and Shivaji Maharaj started ruling happily and with contentment. Shivaji Maharaj had complete faith in Samarth. On many occasions, Maharaj used to consult Samarth Ramdas Swami and take his advice and blessings. The preaching given by Samarth to Maharaj regarding how to behave with caution at the time of calamity is present in the Holy text named ‘Dasbodh’.

Adoption of Gerua Flag

One day Shivaji saw, from the terrace of his palace, his Gurudev Ramdas going about the streets with his begging bowl. Shivaji was surprised and could not understand why his Guru should beg when he himself had already placed all his resources at the disposal of his Gurudev. However, Sadhus are difficult to understand. Shivaji therefore called for his companion Balaji, wrote a small chit and asked him to give it to Guruji when he came to the palace. About noon, Ramdas came to the palace with his bowl and Balaji prostrated before Gurudev and placed the chit at his feet. Briefly, the chit conveyed that Shivaji had made a gift of his whole kingdom to Gurudev and he humbly solicited his Gurudev's blessing. The Guru smiled and told Balaji that it was alright. Next morning Ramdas called on Shivaji and asked him what he proposed to do with himself as he had disposed of his kingdom.

Shivaji prostrated himself before Ramdas and said that he would be very happy and consider himself blessed if he should spend his life in his Gurudev's service. Then Ramdas said, "Take this bowl and let us go on our rounds". So Ramdas and Shivaji went round Satara begging. The people reverently bowed before the pair and gave them alms. The pair returned to the river. Ramdas prepared his simple meals and Shivaji partook of what was left after his Gurudev had finished his meals. Then Shivaji, with a smile, asked his Gurudev what he was going to do with him after reducing him to a beggar. Ramdas knew that the opportunity had come to set up a lofty ideal for the king.

Ramdas asked Shivaji to rule the kingdom in his (Ramdas's) name, to take the Gerua Chaddar for his banner and defend its honour with his life, and to think that the kingdom did not belong to himself but treat it as a trust to be ruled justly and well before God. And thus had come the Gerua banner to Shivaji.

His Last Days

Ramdas generally preferred to live in the forest, where he would say, he had better meditation. In his last days, Ramdas devoted his time partly to literary activities and partly to the systematic building up of his disciples and Mutts, both in the North and in the South. The literary works of Ramdas such as Dasabodh, Manache Shlok (verse addressed to the mind), Karunashtakas (hymns to God) and Ramayana (describing only the conquest of Lanka by Sri Rama and the vanquishing of Ravana) are very popular. It was as a tribute to Ramdas’s extraordinary patience and determination in rehabilitating the Hindu religion in India that people named him Samartha (all-powerful) Ramdas, a name which he richly deserved. This great Guru of Maharashtra breathed his last in 1682 at Sajjangad, near Satara, a fortress which was given to him by Shivaji for his residence.

Ramdas repeated the Rama Mantra with his last breath. At the time of his departure from the world, a dazzling light emanated from his body and Ramdas was absorbed in the image of Lord Rama.

The last instructions of Ramdas to his disciples were: “Do not think much of your bodily wants. Have Satsang with devotees. Keep the image of Lord Rama in your heart. Repeat the name of Lord Rama always. Annihilate lust, greed, anger, hatred and egoism. See Lord Rama in all creatures. Love all. Feel His presence everywhere. Live for Him alone. Serve Him in all beings. Make total and unreserved surrender unto Him. You will always live in Him alone. You will attain immortality and eternal bliss”.

Amazing pot of ghee which never becomes empty

Once Samarth Ramdas Swami had organized bhandara on the occasion of Shri Ram Navami. By His grace everything was in abundance. All of a sudden, pure ghee needed to be served on rice and lentil was over.

Since Ramdas Swami was a great yogi and spiritual master, He could accomplish any task through his spiritual power. He tied rope to a pot and dropped it in a nearby well and drew up the pot filled with water. He gave the pot to a servitor and asked him to serve ghee from the pot to the people partaking food from the bhandara. Servitors were puzzled and wondered how they could serve water instead of ghee. Samarth clarified their doubt and remarked, “My Shriram will take care. Go ahead and serve the ghee”. Servitors started serving water to the people sitting in rows to have food. The water from the pot transformed into ghee while serving and lasted even after all devotees had finished having meals. Once all the devotees had finished having food, Samarth emptied the pot into the well, i.e. returned the water drawn from the well to it.

Even today the bhandara is celebrated on the day prior to Ram Navami in the temple of Shriram at Jamb. On the occasion, every devotee is given 100 grams of ghee from this same pot free of cost by the Trust and surprisingly the pot never becomes empty. One can experience this miracle by attending the bhandara on the 8th day of the bright fortnight of the Hindu calendar month of Chaitra. The entire celebration is exemplary and spectacular.