Among the glorious saints of Maharashtra, Janabai is a shining star. She teaches us that it is not gender, wealth, knowledge, status or power which attracts God to us. God is moved only by our bhakti and surrender and not by anything else. Often we make the mistake of bribing our way into the grace of God and Guru with offer of expensive gifts, offers of wealth and show of power and position. Such things NEVER work with God or Guru. God cannot be attained when we hold on to our material possessions, name, fame and power. A Guru cannot be bought by such things but only by bhakti, surrender and sincere practices.
Lord Vitthala of Pandharpur is adored and worshipped throughout Maharashtra. Since the establishment of the temple in 11th century, Pandharpur is a centre of Hindu bhakti and saints. Great saints and siddhas have worshipped the Lord here and all of Maharashtra rings with the songs of love and adoration written by them and sung even today. Devotees of Lord Vitthala visit Him regularly for His Darshan and Blessings. Annual visits are made by huge crowds during the Ashad Ekadashi. During one such visit, a tailor named Damaset found a little girl crying outside on the temple steps. It was already dark and he asked her if she was lost and where her parents were. The little girl replied that she was an orphan and had walked alone to find a home at Mother Pandhari’s place. Damaset was moved by her words and plight and took her home. Young Janabai became a member of his family.
Damaset’s family was very pious and all were devotees of Lord Vitthala. Namadev the great saint was one of them. Janabai used to help in the daily chores and became one with the family. Every evening there used to be bhajans in their home. Janabai used to participate in the group singing. The name of Vitthala was so fascinating and sweet to her that she used to sing it while cooking, cleaning, washing or doing any work. The name of Vitthala was very sweet and attractive to Namadev too. He wanted to compose a large number of abhangs or devotional songs to spread the love of the Lord. He was busy all day long, working as a tailor and did not get time. He asked the other family members to help him. Janabai composed abhangs for him and her abhangs were excellent.
Janabai endeared herself to her foster family by cheerfully working all day long. She sang abhangs while doing household chores. She would wake up early in the morning and grind jowar or millet to prepare rotis for lunch and dinner. A huge amount of jowar had to be ground daily. Janabai used to sit in one corner of the house and do the grinding. As usual she used to sing the name of the Lord. One day, Namdev's mother heard another female voice talking to Janabai. She peeped in and saw another woman help Janabai grind the mound of jowar. The woman suddenly disappeared from her sight but Janabai continued to talk and sing. So she went in and questioned Janabai about the woman. Janabai replied that the lady was Vithabai and came in daily to help her with the household chores. Namadev’s mother was a staunch devotee of Lord Vitthala. She realized that the Lord had come in the guise of a woman to help Janabai with her daily work and Janabai had named her Vithabai. The Lord came daily to his devotee to help her out and hear her sing His Name.
Once, Janabai was at the cowshed making cow dung cakes which were used for fuel. She did not participate in the worship or offer of food to Lord Vitthala at home. The Lord refused to accept the food. Namadev realized why and he rushed out and brought in Janabai. When Janabai offered the food, the Lord accepted! Janabai composed many abhangs in glory of Lord Vitthala. These are sung even today in our country. She attained God realization while doing the never ending work of a woman in a home without any modern conveniences and appliances. She showed that work is worship and Vitthala can be easily obtained by bhakti and smaran despite being busy with all other jobs. Let us learn this precious lesson from Janabai. Let us do our daily work thinking of God and Guru at all times. Let us do the SitaRam mantra and meditation thinking of the Lord and attain Divine Grace.
