In this series, we will go on a pradakshina of Bharata desha as we present, each month, a kirtan composed by His Holiness Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji on a particular kshetra, starting from south India and then going north.
Pandharpur
As we travel north from Bangalore towards the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, we reach the town of Pandharpur, the hometown of none other than our beloved Panduranga (Lord Krishna). Panduranga, addressed as “Vittal” lovingly by his devotees, stands on the banks of River Chandrabhaga, on a brick, with his hands on his hips and his consort Rakhumai (Rukmini Devi) on the side enjoying the Nama sankirtan of crores of devotees who visit Pandharpur every year. No wonder that, in an abhang, a devotee describes Pandharpur as a market place for Divine Name of the Lord.
In one of Sri Swamiji’s lectures, he has described how he made his first trip to Pandharpur. Once, many years ago, Sri Swamiji had talked about the glories of Lord Panduranga and his bhaktas. That night, he had a vision where he saw a blue light and realized that the blue light was emanating from none other than Lord Panduranga. His desire to have the Lord’s darshan in Pandharpur heightened and unable to control it any further he boarded the train to Pandharpur the very next day. When he reached Pandharpur and had the Lord’s darshan, he told the Lord that he had finally come to Pandharpur. To this, the Lord replied that it was not Sri Swamiji who had come, rather it was the Lord Himself who had made him come! Sri Swamiji describes this visit to Pandharpur in a song. This beautiful song is given below:
Pandari Vara Ennai
Raga: Atana Tala: Adi
Pallavi
paNDarI vara ennai pANDurangan
ANaiyiTTAn ANaiyiTTAn
Anupallavi
paNDarI nAnum kiLambiviTTen
sarva ulagamum marandhuvviTTen
chandrabhAgaiyil snAnam seyithen
paNDarI namakku puthithalla ena uNarndhen (paNDarI..)
Charanam
sAdhukkaL nAma sankIrtanam keTTen
sadguruvin krupaiyai uNarndhen
pANDuranganiDam nAn bhaktiyai keTTen
paNDarI dhULiye bhakti tharum endrAn
paNDarIyai viTTu yeno ennai anuppiviTTAn
pANDurangan en hrudayaththil nindruviTTAn (paNDarI..)
Meaning:
Pallavi
To come to Pandari (Pandharpur), Panduranga commanded me!
Anupallavi
I too started for Pandari
And forgot the world
I bathed in Chandrabhaga river
And, I realized Pandari was not new to me
Charanam
I heard the sadhus perform Nama sankirtan
I understood the grace of the Sadguru
I asked Panduranga for bhakti
He replied that Pandari’s dust itself will bestow bhakti
I don’t know why He sent me away from Pandari then
But, Panduranga remained in my heart
-Sowmya Balasubramanian, Fremont, CA
