Rise of a Folk God: Vitthal of Pandharpur

299 Pages·2011·7.562 MB·English

by  Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere

Introduction
Rise of a Folk God: Vitthal of Pandharpur
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere
Print publication date: 2011
Print ISBN-13: 9780199777594
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2012
DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.001.0001
Introduction
Viṭṭhal Beckons
Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777594.003.0001
Abstract and Keywords
The Introduction establishes the significance of the god Viṭṭhal of Pandharpur
for the religious history of Maharashtra from the eleventh or twelfth century
onwards, pointing out that for the Vārkarī saint-poets, he is identical with the
cowherd Kṛṣṇa. However, Viṭṭhal is not mentioned in the Vedas, the Epics, or the
major Purāṇas, nor is he included in any list of the incarnations or names of
Viṣṇu. Viṭṭhal must be a folk deity who gradually became famous. Who was this
folk deity? What was he originally? What special characteristics enabled his
transformation into Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa? After pointing out the difference between the
religious study of a god and scholarly research into people's ideas about the god,
the Introduction gives an account of the process of preparation of the book,
acknowledges people who assisted in its completion, and discusses the
opposition that some of the book's ideas had already aroused before its
publication.
Keywords:   Maharashtra, Vedas, Epics, folk deities, fame
for the past eight centuries, Lord Viṭṭhal of Pandharpur has ruled with love over
hundreds of thousands of Marathi minds. At the same time as he calls to his
faithful devotees, he also beckons to scholars. In the thirteenth century,
Jn͂āneśvar experienced him through the beauty of the universe and Nāmdev
considered him the essence of love; in the seventeenth century, Tukārām
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Introduction
accepted him as the friend of weary beings. All the saints believed that Kṛṣṇa
himself, the friend of the world, resides in Pandharpur in the form of Viṭṭhal.
“Brahman Is Gathered at the Foot of the Wish-Granting Tree”
The saints believe that the same “very dark Absolute” who settled at the foot of
the wish-granting tree in the Dvāpara Age stands playing his flute in Gopalpur,
just outside Pandharpur, in the dark Kali Age. Jn͂āneśvar, for example, sings (Jn͂ā.
Gā. 6):
Taking the thrice-bent stance, O Mother,
he plays the flute at the foot of the wish-granting tree.
O Mother, Govinda Gopāl
is completely supreme bliss, inside and out.
Seeing the dark, excellent life of all living beings,
the solid embodiment of bliss, my mind was lost.
(p.4) Pervading the universe, moving and still, he remained
imperceptible.
My father is the husband of Rakhumādevī; Viṭṭhal is everything.
The Marathi saints were fascinated by this child form of the Lord. As soon as
that cloud-dark flute-player (Muralīdhar) who plays on Yaśodā's hips and
shoulders, who crawls around in Nanda's yard,1 who steals yoghurt and milk
from cowherd women's houses, who takes a stick in his hand and a blanket over
his shoulder and watches cows with the cowherds on the bank of the Yamunā,
and who drives the cowherd men and women mad with his sweet presence—as
soon as he stands on one foot, his other bent at the knee, and begins playing his
flute beneath the kadamba tree,2 the saints regard him with fond delight through
the eyes of Yaśodā, and they give their all for him. Even as they experience his
this-worldly play, the Vārkarī saints remain aware of his other-worldly nature.
Thus, even as they sing of his childhood games, they exclaim (Nām. Gā. 2271):
This one in the cowherds’ home is the supreme Absolute without
desires.
Armlets, anklets, a chain to keep him in place—Kṛṣṇa steals butter.
Despite being filled with all kinds of intense desires, the child becomes a symbol
of the supreme Absolute (Brahman), which is without desires. The jangling of his
armlets, anklets, and chain awakens the “sound of ‘I am He,’ ”3 and butter
becomes the essence of worldly life.
All the Vārkarī saints were firmly convinced that, allured by the happiness of
devotion (bhakti), the same Kṛṣṇa who in Gokul (Gokuḷ) guards the cows in the
form of a cowherd had settled on the bank of the Bhīmā River for the sake of
Puṇḍalīk (Nām. Gā. 2254):
The blanket on his shoulder reaches down to his feet.
My Mother Kṛṣṇa wraps a woolen blanket around herself.
She follows the cows; she runs but does not get tired.
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Introduction
My Mother Kṛṣṇa is a good mother-sister.
With her hands on her hips, standing on the bank of the Bhīvarā,
my Mother Kṛṣṇa takes Nāmā's side.
From all of Vārkarī devotional literature, there bursts forth the idea that the
cloud-dark Kṛṣṇa, who was allured by the joy of devotion to play and frolic in
Gokul and who later paraded majestically as the king of Dvārakā, takes on the
splendid form of Viṭṭhal.
(p.5) The Path of Inquiry
How did Viṭṭhal come to be identified with the cowherd Kṛṣṇa? Might Viṭṭhal,
too, be originally a cowherd or a cowherds’ god? Might the secret of his image
“with his hands on his hips” be connected to his original form?4 Might the
Yādava dynasties who increased his prestige have some fundamental connection
with his original worshipers?5 Does the Diṇḍīra Forest he came to in order to
pacify the angry Rukmiṇī have any special significance in his original story?6 For
the sake of Puṇḍalīk, Viṭṭhal has stood silently on a brick for twenty-eight yugas.
Can this Puṇḍalīk, who evades history, be found in the sanctuary of religious
faith?7 Many such questions arise.
Lord Viṭṭhal is the great deity of Maharashtra. All the great Vārkarī saints, from
Jn͂āneśvar in the thirteenth century to Niḷobā in the eighteenth, find their
fulfillment in contemplating his feet. Their voices delight in singing his praises.
They regard him as “Śiva with Viṣṇu”; they bestow on him the title “Enlightened
One” (bauddha); they call him Buddha, the “son of the Jina,” and establish him
as the ninth incarnation of Viṣṇu; they address him as “Kānaḍā Karnāṭaku.”
From their generous and exalted point of view, the saints have accomplished in
Viṭṭhal a gentle confluence of contending religious streams: Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava,
Buddhist, Jain, and more. Although numerous sects have arisen, flourished, and
died out in Maharashtra, the current of devotion to Viṭṭhal has continued to flow,
watering the whole religious landscape.
The Search for the Original Form
All the saints repeatedly say that in attempting to comprehend Lord Viṭṭhal, the
Vedas were silenced, the Śāstras lost consciousness, and the Purāṇas were
immobilized with amazement.8 To be sure, neither the Vedas, nor the Smṛtis,9
nor the Purāṇas mention this deity who continually proclaims his sovereignty
over Marathi minds. Although the saints’ faith tells them that Viṭṭhal is a form of
Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa, they are also aware that he is “different from the twenty-four
[incarnations]” and “separate from the thousand [names].” That is, he is not
included in any list of the incarnations or names of Viṣṇu. Viṭṭhal, who attained
extraordinary status as a Vaiṣṇava deity from the eleventh or twelfth century
onward and who brings about a great confluence of many religious streams,
must be a folk deity who gradually became famous.
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Introduction
This inescapable inference continues to arouse scholars’ curiosity. Just who was
this folk deity who achieved such rich Vaiṣṇava status? What was he originally?
(p.6) What special characteristics did he have that transformed him into Viṣṇu-
Kṛṣṇa? The urge to know this has been present continually, from the time of the
renowned historian Rajvade10 to this day, and in the past few years, it has begun
to manifest itself more intensely. Recently, drawing on a chapter in the
thirteenth-century Mahānubhāv text Līḷācaritra, the scholar of Old Marathi
literature S. G. Tulpule has argued that Lord Viṭṭhal must have originated in a
memorial to a cowherd hero (Tuḷpuḷe 1977, 1978).11 Naturally, Tulpule's view
aroused widespread interest among Vārkarīs and in the general public.
Newspapers and other periodicals have published scholars’ responses to his
article, both favorable and unfavorable, and plentiful new sources for research
on this subject have begun to come to light.
In order to explain the name “Viṭṭhal,” it is said that the god stands on a brick
(vīṭ). Scholars of religious studies know that the stories in Māhātmyas are
composed out of popular materials; the story of Viṭṭhal standing on the brick
that Puṇḍalīk tossed to him developed in this manner as well. We can
demonstrate the later stages of Viṭṭhal's development, but we have not yet
discovered his original form. To find that form, we must investigate thoroughly
the Dhangar shepherds’ cult of Viṭṭhal-Bīrappā. We must consider the fact that
Viṭṭhal is a god of Gavḷī cowherds and Dhangar shepherds, and that he is the
husband of a cowherd woman named Padūbāī. A “Padmā” who becomes “naked”
and “loose-haired” appears in a Pāṇḍuraṅga Māhātmya; we must investigate
whether or not there is any special significance to her appearance in the story of
Viṭṭhal. In our search, we must also make use of the similarities between Viṭṭhal
and Veṅkaṭeś:12 both are forms of Viṣṇu, both are “Bālājī” (the child Kṛṣṇa), both
are husbands of Padmā, and both live separately from their wives. “Bīr
Kuar” (Vīr Kumār), a god of Ahirs in western Bihar who is considered to be a
form of Kṛṣṇa and who stands with his hands on his hips, is similar to Viṭṭhal; we
must seriously consider whether this similarity is significant. Only after we have
assiduously followed all these possible lines of research will we be able to make
reliable claims about Viṭṭhal's original form.
No one has yet given a satisfying etymology of the name Viṭṭhal. Another
traditional etymology, besides the one based on the story of Puṇḍalīk and the
brick, gives each syllable in “Viṭṭhal” a philosophical meaning: vidā (through
knowledge), ṭhān (ignorant people), lāti (grasp)—that is, “Viṭṭhal is the one who
accepts ignorant people through knowledge.” Recently, V. K. Shrotriya, relying
on “Sārasvat grammar,”13 proffered a new etymology: vidi (in knowledge),
sthalaḥ (steady, settled)—that is, “the one who is located in knowledge is
Viṭṭhal” (Śrotriya 1978). Many scholarly attempts to give an etymology for
“Viṭṭhal” have been made, both in the distant past and more recently; they
include those proffered by Rajvade (Rājvāḍe 1922: 96–97) and Mehendale
(Mehendaḷe 1952). Many scholars accept the (p.7) view that “Viṭṭhal” comes
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Introduction
from “Viṣṇu” (Viṣṇu ®Viṣṭu ®Viṭṭhal), and the Vaiṣṇava character of Viṭṭhal
devotion continues to nourish this view.
Most of these etymologies, however, seem to have been attempted under the
influence of the developed form of devotion to Viṭṭhal. Besides the places of
Viṭṭhal in Maharashtra, there are also many places of a goddess named
“Viṭhalāī.” Her worship is still primitive, untouched by high devotional thought.
If the name “Viṭṭhal” is to be derived from Viṣṇu, how can the name Viṭhalāī be
explained? Viṣṇu did not simply become Viṭṭhal; Viṭṭhal has been made into a
form of Viṣṇu. In other words, the name “Viṭṭhal” is not a corrupt form of
“Viṣṇu”; rather, “Viṣṇu” is a hypercorrect, Sanskritized form of “Viṭṭhal” (or
“Viṭhū”). A clear explanation of the name “Viṭṭhal” has yet to be found, and
perhaps the original form of Viṭṭhal will emerge from that explanation.
Source Materials
If we want to discern not just the original nature of Lord Viṭṭhal but also the
remarkable process of his development, scholars of Viṭṭhal must assiduously
follow up on all these lines of research. Unfortunately, we do not even have a
precise idea of how plentiful are the provisions for our search. Books about
Viṭṭhal and Pandharpur cite only a few Sanskrit verses from traditional
Māhātmya stories about the god, while the complete Māhātmya texts have not
yet been made available. The Pāṇḍuraṅga Māhātmya attributed to the Padma
Purāṇa was published in the nineteenth century, but today copies of its published
edition are as rare as manuscripts; the Pāṇḍuraṅga Māhātmya considered to
belong to the Skanda Purāṇa has not been published at all. There is also another
Pāṇḍuraṅga Māhātmya, one claiming to belong to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, that almost
no one has even heard of. All these Sanskrit Māhātmyas ought to be published in
good editions with Marathi prose translations and a thorough discussion of the
stories of Viṭṭhal in Old Marathi (and also Kannada and Telugu) literature.
The many briefer texts praising Lord Viṭṭhal and Pandharpur in the voices of the
Vārkarī saints should also be brought together and published, as an anthology of
praises of Puṇḍalīk has already been published under the title Puṇḍalīkastava
(“Praises of Puṇḍalīk,” Abhaṅgarāv 1911). The saints’ independent expressions
about Viṭṭhal can shed great light on the process of his development and the
synthesis involved in it.
Someone must edit all the inscriptions about Lord Viṭṭhal and Pandharpur that
have been found in Viṭṭhal temples in Pandharpur and elsewhere, as well as
additional ones that could be discovered in the course of research. Through the
efforts (p.8) of S. G. Tulpule and Shobhana Gokhale (Tuḷpuḷe 1963; Gokhale
1970), five Marathi and Sanskrit inscriptions in Pandharpur have been well
edited. Pandurang Desai has elucidated similar materials in other places (Desāī
1957a, 1957b). And V. L. Manjul, with the cooperation of Baḍve priests in
Pandharpur, has publicized the discovery of three new inscriptions in the Viṭṭhal
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Introduction
temple there (Man͂jūḷ 1978). Editing all of these inscriptions and bringing them
together would give us a precise idea of the light that epigraphical materials can
shed upon the history of Viṭṭhal.
The situation is the same with respect to documents. The papers of all the
temple servants who hold traditional rights in Viṭṭhal's worship must be gone
through, and each document that pertains to this subject must be edited with
great care. Finally, there is another type of material that we must not ignore.
This is the material found in folk traditions. We must examine in detail the songs
and collections of stories that live orally in the minds and voices of all Marathi
people, especially such pastoralist groups as the Dhangar shepherds, and we
must compare these oral traditions with religious texts that members of the elite
have composed in Sanskrit.
Because all this material will bring into view the delightful, glorious story of
Lord Viṭṭhal, not only scholars but also the faithful can provide enthusiastic help.
A scholar who sets out with these rich provisions will surely get a full view not
only of Lord Viṭṭhal, but also of other, similar deities with comparable
biographies. Viṭṭhal has stood “silently” for twenty-eight eons, posing riddles to
the faithful and to scholars alike. I am confident that he will break his protracted
silence and manifest to us in radiant form the secret of both his original form
and the great process of synthesis through which he developed.
Scholarship and Devotion
In Marathi, there is a well-known saying that one should not look for the source
of a river or the ancestry of a sage.14 Devotees of a great deity do not like to look
for his origins either. Still, when we see the tiny beginnings of a broad river that
flows along, “absorbing people's sins and sufferings, nourishing the trees on its
banks,”15 we never fail to feel respect for it, nor does our faith in its holiness
diminish. In fact, when we realize what an abundance of water that small trickle
gradually grows into, a profound respect captivates our minds. When we hear
from the great sage Vyāsa16 himself that he was born of a fisherwoman, that
does not at all diminish for us the universality of his experience or the purity of
his knowledge. So why should we fear that searching for the original form of a
great deity will (p.9) erode people's faith in him? Historians of religion are
continually learning of gods who, arising from a primitive level of folk belief,
have grown in popularity, as great religious leaders, thinkers, and mystics have
molded an elevated nature for them.
We must also clearly realize that study of a god is different from research into
people's ideas about the god. The goals of the two kinds of study are different,
their paths are different, and their tools are different as well. The one is an
interior journey, the other an external one. One way is that of faith, the other
that of minute examination. The one kind of study works primarily with
emotions, while the other relies principally on intellectual tools. Someone who
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Introduction
does not consider it important to conduct research into people's ideas about
gods will not understand the difference between Mhasobā and Viṭhobā, for
example. Such a person will not comprehend how devotees of the one god can
please him by cutting off the heads of goats, while devotees of the other tread so
gently that not even a worm or an ant dies under their feet. The highest
conceptions of gods are manifested in worship performed by those intent on the
spiritual, and it is such people whose lives and thought the scholar of ideas
about gods studies.
In December 1976, I wrote my lectures on “The Shrine of
Maharashtra” (“Mahārāṣṭrācā Devhārā”) for the N. C. Kelkar Memorial Lecture
Series sponsored by Pune University. At that time, I decided to examine and
experience the majesty of Lord Viṭṭhal in all its aspects. True, ever since I
reached the age of understanding, Lord Viṭṭhal had been the object of my love,
enjoyment, and attraction. The village and house in which I passed my childhood
were captivated by devotion for Lord Viṭṭhal, enjoyed the sounds of devotional
songs to him, and took part every year in the pilgrimages during the months of
Āṣāḍh (June–July) and Kārtik (October–November). Later, when I was fourteen, I
moved to Pune. I grew up in the city, took pleasure in acquiring new kinds of
knowledge, and came face to face with a new attitude toward life. Still, the love
of Viṭṭhal that was so deeply rooted in me was not at all effaced.
History of Religion and The Study of Society
For the past eight centuries, Viṭṭhal has proclaimed his sovereignty over the
minds of Marathi people; many holy men who have reached the highest stage of
spiritual life have experienced him in all beings. I realize clearly that I am not
worthy to approach these holy men, not even to touch their feet. I know that
someone whose life is pervaded by desires and doubts has no right to tread on
the pathways of holy men who have reached this highest stage. Thus, even
though my love for Viṭṭhal has gradually become more and more intense, I
continue to take a worldly route in (p.10) my search for him; I continue to
follow in the footsteps of social scientists and historians of religion.
To understand the stages of development of gods is in a sense to understand the
stages of development of the society that has faith in them: analyzing the
development of the gods is extremely useful for social history. As I have realized
this, I have come to see that the sources for research about gods are closely tied
to all the rest of social and cultural life. In order to reach a true understanding
of the secrets of the gods, we must explore all the written, oral, and ritual
expressions of elite and folk traditions that are based, whether independently or
through mutual influence, on faith in those gods. In working on this book, I have
continually kept this rule in mind.
Starting on 1 June 1979, ten months after my lectures were published as
Mahārāṣṭrācā Devhārā (Ḍhere 1978b), I became a Research Associate at Pune
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Introduction
University and took up a major research project entitled “Lord Viṭṭhal: The God,
the Sect, and the Literature.” For the past four and a half years, I have worked
unremittingly on this one topic. I have undertaken numerous field trips in order
to make new discoveries in religious history, I have collected literally hundreds
of items of source material, and I have continued to search for Viṭṭhal along
paths that would previously have seemed inconceivable even to me.
I have great love for the saints’ experience of Viṭṭhal. Because of that all-
encompassing experience, I believe, Viṭṭhal has become a god who uplifts
society not only yesterday and today but also tomorrow. However, because my
point of view is different from that of mystics, my ideas about Viṭṭhal also differ
from theirs. My limited goal here is simply to tell, in all its dramatic details, the
extraordinary, thrilling story of how, as he became increasingly popular, a god of
southern pastoralists became Viṣṇu-Kṛṣṇa and created a great synthesis through
the saints’ all-encompassing faith. I set forth this story here by combining, as far
as I can, the disciplines of history of religion and the study of society. To make
my effort comprehensive, including both broad strokes and attention to detail, I
study the stories of the gods from a very contemporary, independent point of
view; moreover, even though my aim is limited to research on Viṭṭhal, I keep in
view all the major gods of south India. My goal in this study of Viṭṭhal has been
to analyze sthalapurāṇas17 so powerfully that discerning, unbaised readers will
realize fully the major importance of such texts both for theology and for
religious history.
In a sense, this book expands the thesis of my earlier work Santasāhitya āṇi
Loksāhitya (“The Saints’ Literature and Folk Literature,” Ḍhere 1978d)—or
rather, it expands it with respect to the saints’ principal object of worship. The
present book is only the first stage in a broader project. In the second stage, I
will focus on analyzing the whole sacred complex at Pandharpur, and on
studying the Marathi (p.11) and Kannada sects of Viṭṭhal devotion, the Vārkarīs
and Haridāsas. In the third stage, I plan to present a comparison of how the
three folk deities Viṭṭhal, Veṅkaṭeś, and Jagannāth fashioned the regional
cultures of Maharashtra, Andhra, and Orissa, respectively. In the final stage, I
will show how the saints, making Lord Viṭṭhal the supreme center of their faith,
created a world of lofty ideas that transcended their sect.18
Acknowledgments
In presenting this book to readers, I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of
many friends, well-wishers, and lovers of knowledge. The University Grants
Commission gave me a Research Associateship for this project, allowing me to
work in peace for five years. Dr. R. G. Takavale, the Vice-Chancellor of Pune
University, wholeheartedly took the lead in enabling the fellowship to be
administered. Dr. Madhavrav Bhide, a senior, well-known professor of Pune
University, and Dr. Bhalcandra Phadke, a close friend of mine who was a
reviewer for the project, stood behind me like elder brothers. In addition, many
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Introduction
officials and staff members of the university office helped me with affection.
Because Mr. P. G. (“Bhausaheb”) Bakare generously gave me his vehicle to use, I
was able twice (in November 1981 and 1983) to make extensive field trips into
Andhra and Karnataka, traveling comfortably for eight or nine thousand
kilometers. Mr. V. L. Manjul, the librarian of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute and my great friend, assists innumerable researchers in finding
references. Considering this project his own work, he helped me from its
conception to its completion, in many different ways; the value of his assistance
is beyond words.
I must also mention many friends and well-wishers who took the trouble to get
important research materials for me and to facilitate my work: Acarya V. P.
Limaye, Dr. Rajeshvar Gosvami, Mr. Kapil Paradkar, Mr. Vasantrav Sangolkar,
Mr. A. R. Tikekar, Mr. Rambhau Kolhatkar, Professor Krishna Gurav, Dr. Günther
D. Sontheimer, Mr. Shripatrav Nehare, Mr. Anandrav Kumbhar, Mr. Baburav
Katre, Professor Manikrav Dhanpalvar, Dr. Tara Bhavalkar, Professor S. V. Kher,
Mr. Adinathrav Yadav, Mr. Vasudevrav Shahane, Dr. N. R. Inamdar, Professor P.
K. Ghanekar, Ms. Shashitai Dikshit, Mr. Vasantrav Agashe, Mr. B. P. Bahirat, Mr.
Prasannakumar Aklujkar, Mr. K. Gundacar (from Shimoga), and others. My
friend and constant companion Moreshvar Valimbe, who is familiar with my
research needs, continually provides me with useful references that he comes
across.
As soon as I formed the intention of undertaking this project, my publisher and
friend Madhukaka Kulkarni began proclaiming repeatedly that his press,
Shrividya, would publish the book. If Madhukaka had not continually dunned
me, I might (p.12) not have finished writing quite as soon as I did. I was
continually finding new information on this subject, and new ideas kept
occurring to me. During this period, my health was constantly poor, and I was
depressed at the sudden deaths of one after another of my friends. All the
unnamed people who took care of me in this strange condition and helped me
recover also stand behind the completion of this book. There are so many
friends, institutions, librarians, and booksellers who have helped me so eagerly,
in so many ways, that this limited introduction will not suffice to list all their
names. It is a joy for me to remain forever in the debt of those whose names I
have mentioned, and also of those whose names I acknowledge mentally without
writing them here.
Research and Sectarianism
If the people who fear that this book will cause harm to their religious lives join
in opposing me with those who fear that the book's new point of view will cause
them harm in the world of scholarship, this will be no surprise. In January 1981,
after completing my second research trip to Pandharpur, I wrote two articles on
“The Quest for the Original Image of Lord Viṭṭhal” that appeared in the
newspaper Kesarī (Ḍhere 1981e and 1981c). Marathi readers remember the
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Introduction
storm that arose throughout Maharashtra in response to those articles. A flurry
of letters, articles, and notes was published not only in Kesarī but elsewhere as
well. Some publications sought to increase their circulation by printing
sensational “features” on this subject. In some cases, special numbers of
periodicals were published, with the pilgrimage priests of Pandharpur taking the
lead. What is more, some people, not motivated by a pure search for knowledge,
convened assemblies opposing me on platforms erected in memory of M. G.
Ranade19 and V. K. Rajvade. Some people cursed me rudely, and others
threatened violence. The campaign of critical writings and speeches has
continued until very recent times.
Loyal to my scholarly point of view, I wrote two more articles in Kesarī (Ḍhere
1981b and 1981a) responding to the critiques that had been published in the
first three weeks and publicly promising that “if evidence to the contrary is
found tomorrow, I myself will correct myself.” I did not want to argue for the
sake of argument. I wanted to follow my passion, to search for the truth. So I
kept up my research and found a good deal more evidence about the
characteristics of the original image of Viṭṭhal. In chapter 6 of this book, I
present fearlessly and honestly, based on new evidence, some corrections to my
theory about the image at Māḍhe (Solapur District).20 Genuine seekers after
truth must always be ready to argue against their own earlier positions.
(p.13) Myths are the foundation-stone of ritual and of the faith that inspires
people to perform rituals. To attempt to unravel the secrets of myths is to
dissolve the myths. Priests of pilgrimage places and heads of monasteries can
never tolerate such demythologization. For that reason, such people sharply
oppose demythologizing scholars and seekers of truth. Revolutionary poets are
fond of myths, as are compassionate philosophers, Mahātmās, and heroes. But
such people go beneath the surface and accept myths as symbolic;
demythologization never frightens them. Those engaged in defending the
livelihood of priests and abbots can never even imagine the heights of those
Mahātmās: a man who earns his living as a priest can never become a prophet.
The saints had no fear that the dissolution of myths would destroy the faith that
rests on them. Without contradicting their own pure views, the saints would be
open to investigating the development of folk conceptions of the symbol in which
they experienced the Absolute. They would also be willing to learn how those
conceptions have differed in different levels of society, and how some people,
while outwardly accepting the developed form of the symbol, have attempted to
use it to accomplish their own goals.
Sectarians and those with interests in a holy place (especially those among them
who are recently educated) want research, but only order to use it for the
tenacious protection of their sectarianism and their interests. Such people are
always stepping forward with generous sponsorship and “support” for so-called
“scholars” who seem useful to them in fulfilling this primary goal. They then
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