"In the imperishable realm of the
Formless Lord, I play the flute of the unstruck sound current."
 God's
name was always on the lips of Bhagat Namdev Ji. He was asked by the king
to show miracles. Bhagat Namdev Ji refused to do so and was thrown before
a drunk elephant to be crushed to death. God saved His own saint. Bhagat
Namdev Ji spent the last day of his life in village Guman, now in district
Gurdaspur, Punjab (India).
Guru Granth Sahib recognizes many saints of the Bhakti movement of medieval
India. Namdev are the saints belonging to this movement which swept across
the North India from 1100 A.D. till 1600 A.D. When Fifth Guru Guru Arjan
dev ji compiled Guru Granth Sahib, he decided to give some recognition
to the saints of Bhakti movement, that is the reason that Guru Granth
Sahib contains verses of such saints. In some cases Guru Granth Sahib
is the only voice remained for such saints over the years.
According to the generally accepted version of the current traditions,
Namdev was born in AD 1270 to Damasheti, a low-caste tailor, and his wife,
Gonabai, in the village of Naras-Vamani, in Satara district of Maharashtra.
Janabai, the family's maidservant and a bhakta and poetess in her own
right, records the tradition that Namdev was born to Gonabai as a result
of her worship of Vitthala in Pandharpur. Namdev was married before he
was eleven years of age to Rajabal, daughter of Govinda sheti Sadavarte.
He had four sons and one daughter, Under the influence of saint Jnanadeva,
Namdev was converted to the path of bhakti. Vitthala of Pandharpur was
now the object of his devotion and he spent much of his time in worship
and kirtan, chanting mostly verses of his own composition. In the company
of Jnanadeva and other saints, he roamed about the country and later came
to the Punjab where he is said to have lived for more than twenty years
at Ghuman, in Gurdaspur district, where a temple in the form of samadh
still preserves his memory. This temple was constructed by Sardar Jassa
Singh Ramgarhia and the tank by its side was got repaired by Rani Sada
Kaur , mother-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh . In his early fifties,
Namdev settled down at Pandharpur where he gathered around himself a group
of devotees. His abhangas or devotional lyrics became very popular, and
people thronged to listen to his kirtan. Namdev's songs have been collected
in Namdevachi Gatha which also includes the long autobiographical poem
Tirathavah. His Hindi verse and his extended visit to the Punjab carried
his fame far beyond the borders of Maharashtra. Sixty-one of his hymns
in fact came to be included in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.
These hymns or sabdas share the common characteristic of lauding the One
Supreme God distinct from his earlier verse which carries traces of idolatry
and saguna bhakti. In the course of his spiritual quest, Namdev had, from
being a worshipper of the Divine in the concrete form, become a devotee
of the attributeless ( nirguna) Absolute.
Bhagat Nam Dev is a pioneer of the Radical bhakti School. Though he
appeared a century earlier than Kabir, his religious and social views
are very much like those of Kabir. He unambiguously repudiates all the
four fundamentals of Vaisnavism. Though in his devotional approach, he
is clearly a monotheist, he makes many pantheistic statements too, e.g.,
every thing is God; there is nothing but God; consider the world and God
to be one; the foam and the water are not different. Chaturvedi writes:
"Sant Nam Dev seemed to believe both in transcendence and immanence,
in pantheism and nondualism. His devotion was purely of the non-attributional
absolute. He also considers God to be immanent, everywhere, in all hearts,
and the Creator of everything. Like Kabir and the Sufis, Namdev is very
other worldly. He says, "The strength of contempt of the world should
be in the body an unchanging companion. One should lay aside differences
between oneself and others, and feel no anxiety for things of the world."Ranade
also writes: "He (Nam Dev) tells us that it is impossible that the
pursuit of God can be coupled with a life of Samsara. If it had been possible
for a man to find God while he was pursuing Samsara, then Sanaka and others
would not have grown mad after God. If it had been possible for him to
see God while carrying on the duties of a householder, the great Suka
would not have gone to the forest to seek God. Had it been possible for
people to find God in their homes, they would not have left them to fond
out. Nam Dev has left all these things, and is approaching God in utter
submission (Abhg. 83). 
NamDev's cosmogenic views are also orthodox. He says that God created
maya and "maya is the name of the power that placeth man in the womb."Indirectly,
he is neither happy with the world, nor with the human birth. Him, shop,
shopkeeper, men and everything are unreal excepting God. In this background
he seeks release from the world and suggests renunciation: " Namdev
gave up trade, and devoted himself exclusively to the worship of God.
The world being a play of maya and not being a worthwhile of spiritual
endeavours, Namdev's goal is to have union with God through devotion and
singing. His praises. He says, "I perform worship, sing God's praises
and meditate on Him for eight pahar in a day i.e, round the clock. At
the same time, he suggests good conduct and purity of life. For, God created
all men alike. Though he holds every person responsible lor his acts,
he clearly does not believe in a world rigidly governed by karma. 13ecause
he says: If everything were determined by karma, who created karma originally?
NamDev not only claims union with God, but, like Kabir, also states
that more than once God miraculously intervened on his behalf to reveal
Himself to him, or help him. Without doubt, Nam Dev's approach remains
otherworldly both before and after his achievement. At one time, he even
gave up work so as to remain absorbed in his worship and meditations.
He never initiated any religious institution or movement. His was a solitary
search for God, without creating any social or religious organisation.
We find that in his repudiation of Vaisnava doctrines, in his metaphysical
ideas, methodology and goal, and more particularly in his otherworldly
approach to the world and society, Namdev's views are quite identical
with those of Kabir.
Shabad by Bhagat Nam Dev in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib where the temple
rotated towards his direction as he was not allowed to sit in there.
Laughing and playing, I came to Your Temple, O Lord.
While Naam Dayv was worshipping, he was grabbed and driven out. || 1
||
I am of a low social class, O Lord;
why was I born into a family of fabric dyers? || 1 || Pause ||
I picked up my blanket and went back, to sit behind the temple. || 2
||
As Naam Dayv uttered the Glorious Praises of the Lord,
the temple turned around to face the Lord’s humble devotee. ||
3 || 6 |
Shabad by Bhagat Nam Dev in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on how he had
the darshan of the Lord.
Nam Dev milked the brown cow,
and brought a cup of milk and a jug of water to his family god. || 1
||
Please drink this milk, O my Sovereign Lord God. Drink this milk and
my mind will be happy.
Otherwise, my father will be angry with me. || 1 || Pause ||
Taking the golden cup, Nam Dev filled it with the ambrosial milk,
and placed it before the Lord. || 2 ||
The Lord looked upon Nam Dev and smiled.
This one devotee abides within my heart. || 3 ||
The Lord drank the milk, and the devotee returned home.
Thus did Nam Dev come to receive the Blessed Vision of the Lord’s
Darshan. || 4 || 3 ||
|
