संत जनाबाई जी की कथा: जिनके लिए भगवान विट्ठल ने धोए कपड़े और चलाई चक्की

Janabai’s Birthplace and Her Life of Service at Sant Namdev’s House

Janabai was born in Gangakhed village in Parbhani district of Maharashtra, which is situated on the banks of Godavari. Her father Dama was a Vitthal devotee from the Shudra caste. Janabai’s mother’s name was Karunda, who was also a devotee of Lord Vitthal. When Janabai was only five or six years old, her mother passed away. After this, her father, Dama, brought Janabai to Pandharpur and left her at the house of Vitthal devotee Damashetty.

Damashetty was none other than the father of Sant Namdev, who was a very close friend and devotee of Sant Dnyaneshwar. Janabai started working as a sevika in Sant Namdev’s house. She started doing all the household chores herself with full devotion and dedication, such as washing clothes, grinding flour, preparing offerings, washing utensils and sweeping and mopping.

Janabai started getting immense joy in service. The company and service of Saint Namdev had a deep impact on her, due to which she also started chanting the name of God continuously. Just like Namdev ji used to do bhajan and kirtan, Janabai also got immersed in devotion and started doing kirtan and Nam Samaran.

When Vitthal came in the form of an old lady and washed Janabai ji’s clothes.

One day it was Ekadashi, and a group of devotees had gathered at Sant Namdev’s house. It was night time and a Jagran was being organized. All the devotees were immersed in the kirtan and bhajans of God—some were doing kirtan, some were playing the mridang, some were playing kartal, dholak or manjira. Everyone was so engrossed in the bliss of devotion that no one was even conscious of his body. Some were dancing, some were singing, and tears of devotion were flowing from the eyes of many devotees. No one even realized how the night passed in this bliss.

After the jagaran was over, people returned to their respective homes. Janabai also returned to her home and lay down for a while to rest. But the ecstasy of Bhagwad’s love had not yet completely gone from her mind, and she fell asleep immersed in this devotion. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the sun had risen and she was late in getting up.

Janabai thought that she was late in her work today and there must have been some delay in sweeping and mopping and cleaning utensils in Namdev ji’s house. She immediately started doing her work in a hurry, but all the work could not be completed. The work started getting disrupted and this caused delay everywhere. Household works like fighting, filling water, washing clothes and cleaning utensils were all pending. After finishing her work in a hurry, she reached the banks of Chandrabhaga river to wash clothes.

While washing clothes, she suddenly remembered that an important work was left, which if not done immediately, would cause pain to her Swami Namdev ji. So she immediately got up from the river and started walking towards Namdev ji’s residence. While walking on the way, she was worried that the work was not completed on time. Then on the way they met an old woman, who on seeing Janabai said lovingly, “Don’t worry, finish your household chores and come back, by then I will wash your clothes.”

Janabai said, “No mother, why would you take the trouble for me? I will come back and do my work myself.” The old woman said smilingly, “Daughter, it is not difficult for me to do any work. I always do all the work and I do not face any difficulty in it. If you do not feel like doing it, then you can help me sometimes.”

Impressed by the loving words of the old woman, Janabai proceeded towards her work. She did not know that the old woman was not an ordinary woman, but was the God Sachchidananda himself. The old woman washed and cleaned all the clothes in a short time. In a short while when Janabai returned, a sense of duty surged in her heart. She said to the old woman, “Mother, today I got a lot of help because of you.”

The old lady smiled and said, “I had no trouble doing your work. Take your clothes, and I am leaving now.” Saying this, the old lady left from there. Janabai’s heart was filled with immense affection for the old lady, but she could not understand when and where the old lady had gone. When Janabai looked around, the old lady was nowhere to be seen.

Janabai reached Namdev ji’s house with all the clothes. Her heart was very restless. She was thinking again and again that who was that old lady? What magic did her smile do that Janabai’s mind was remembering her every moment. With her emotional heart, she went to Namdev ji and narrated the entire incident.

Namdev ji heard it and immediately said, “Oh Janabai, that was no ordinary old lady, it was Vitthal himself!” Janabai was surprised to hear this. Namdev ji was also surprised that Lord Vitthal loved Janabai so much that he himself came and washed all her clothes. He said, “You are so fortunate, Janabai! Thakur’s grace was bestowed upon you, and you did not recognize it.”

On hearing this, Janabai’s heart filled with even more love, and tears welled up in her eyes. She said emotionally, “Prabhu, you turned out to be a trickster! You came and did not even give me a chance to recognize you. And you suffered so much for me, washed all my clothes!” Tears started flowing from Janabai’s eyes, and her love deepened even more.

When Lord Vitthal himself collected garbage and ran the mill for Janabai

After this incident, the nature of Janabai’s devotion changed. She was so deeply absorbed in devotion that every particle of her body started chanting the Lord’s name. Now this had become a daily routine. Janabai would get lost in devotion while doing household chores.

Once Janabai, who was always engrossed in her work, was sweeping immersed in love. When she collected the garbage and came back to fill it, she saw that Vitthal himself was filling the garbage with a basket. Earlier the Lord used to come in the form of an old woman, but now he was helping her in the form of Vitthal himself.

Many times, when Janabai would sing bhajans of the Lord while grinding flour in the mill, she would stop the mill in emotion. Concerned that there should be no lapse in service, Thakurji himself would come and operate the mill. He would listen to Janabai’s abhangs and Janabai would remain immersed in her devotion. When Janabai would sweep, Lord Vitthal himself would pick up the garbage. He would carry the basket on his head and walk behind Janabai, as if he was repaying the debt of her service.

Vitthal would repeatedly tell Janabai, “I am indebted to you. You tell me how I can repay this debt.” Such humility of the Lord towards Janabai’s service and love was amazing.

When Janabai would pound paddy in the mortar, Vitthal would stand in front of her and keep smiling. Janabai would say that all this was possible only by the grace of her Guru, Namdev ji. While serving Namdev ji, she came to know that there is no one else in this world, only Vitthal is omnipresent. He is with me all the time, he is always engaged in my service.

Why was Janabai, who was devoted to God, given the punishment of crucifixion?

Vitthal Bhagwan was so pleased with Janabai’s love that he himself used to come to her house every night, eat roti made by her and then return to the temple. One night he suddenly said, “Today I don’t feel like going to the temple, Janabai. If you say, I will sleep here, I will go for Mangala Aarti in the morning.” Janabai was shocked and said, “Prabhu, will you sleep here? But I don’t even have a bed. In your temple there is a silk mattress and pillow, here in my hut there is only a torn old mat.”

Thakurji said smilingly, “Don’t worry, I will not have any problem.” Now every night Thakurji started sleeping there. Janabai did not have any special means, so she would spread an old mat and Thakurji would sleep on it. Janabai’s body had become stiff, she neither felt cold nor hot. But Thakurji was soft, cold started bothering him. In such a situation, Janabai would cover Thakurji with her old, worn out blanket and the Lord would sleep peacefully.

Every morning before Mangala Aarti, Thakurji would wake up, take care of his jewellery and adornments and go to the temple. This had become a daily routine, but no one would know anything. Thakurji would say to Janabai, “Don’t tell anyone that I come here.”

One night Lord Vitthal slept at Janabai’s house as usual, but he was a little late in getting up in the morning. The Mangala bell started ringing and in a hurry, he left his jewellery and yellow clothes there and went to the temple wearing Janabai’s blanket. When the temple doors opened and the priests saw Thakurji, they were shocked. All his jewellery was missing, and he was wearing Janabai’s old, torn blanket!

There was a commotion in the temple. The priests started asking each other, “What has happened? Where have all Thakurji’s jewellery gone? And whose blanket is this?” Janabai used to come to the temple daily, and everyone recognized her blanket because it had “Vitthal Vitthal” written on it and it was stitched at many places. The priests understood that it was Janabai’s. Now everyone suspected that Janabai had stolen Thakurji’s jewellery!

Janabai was busy with her daily chores when a group of priests came to her house. They said, “Janabai, you have stolen Thakurji’s jewellery!” Janabai was stunned. She knew that all this was Thakurji’s leela, but she could not say anything because Thakurji had told her that this is a secret. She told the priests, “Maharaj, I do not know anything. This blanket is mine, but I do not know anything else.”

But the priests did not listen to Janabai and caught her and took her to the temple. A panchayat was called there and it was decided that Janabai would be given the death penalty. It was decided to crucify her on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river. When Janabai was being prepared to be crucified, she prayed for the last time, “Vitthal, if I have to leave this body like this, it does not matter to me. I just pray that my Guru’s name is not defamed.”

And just then, as soon as Janabai completed her prayer, a miracle happened! Vitthal Bhagwan appeared there. Everyone was stunned to see his brilliance. Bhagwan said, “Janabai did not steal these ornaments, rather I left them there myself. Janabai’s service and love is so dear to me that I come to her house every day, eat food from her hands, and sleep. Today I left my ornaments there in a hurry.”

Hearing this, all the priests fell at the feet of the Lord. People started hailing Janabai. The story of devotion of Lord Vitthal and Janabai started echoing all around Pandharpur.

When Janabai’s cow dung cakes echoed with the name of Vitthal-Vitthal

Kabir Das ji had heard a lot about Janabai’s devotion and glory. The fame of her bhajans had spread far and wide, and her praise reached Kabir’s ears too. He thought in his mind, “I must have a darshan of such a great devotee.” With this thought Kabir ji reached Pandharpur in Maharashtra.

On reaching Pandharpur, Kabir Das ji asked the villagers about Janabai. One person said, “Those two women who are fighting in front, one of them is Janabai.” Kabir Das ji was shocked to hear this. He thought, “How is it possible that such a great devotee is fighting?” He moved towards that direction in slight disbelief, but with curiosity.

When he came closer, he saw that Janabai and another woman were arguing heatedly. Kabir Das ji politely asked, “Are you Janabai?” Janabai, still angry, said, “So what?” Kabirdas ji said casually, “I came to see you. I heard that you are a great devotee of Vitthal. But what are you quarreling about?” Janabai said angrily, “He has stolen my dung cakes.”

Janabai replied firmly, “No! I want my own cakes back.” Kabirdas ji said, “How will you identify your cakes? All the cakes are the same.” Janabai smiled and picked up one cake, put it to her ear, and then threw it away. She picked up another cake, put it to her ear, and then put it aside. She kept listening to many such cakes, and when she found the right one, she said, “This is mine.”

Kabirdas ji asked in surprise, “What are you hearing in the cakes?” Janabai handed a piece of wood to Kabirdas and said, “You also listen.” Kabirdas put the wood to his ear, and as soon as he heard it, his heart was filled with joy. The sound of ‘Vitthal-Vitthal’ was coming from the wood. Kabirdas understood that Janabai’s devotion was so deep and pure that even inanimate objects started chanting the name of God on her touch.

Overwhelmed by this unique experience, Kabirdas bowed down at Janabai’s feet and thought, “I have seen such a wonderful effect of true devotion for the first time today.”