Holy
Pilgrimage – Temples in Maharashtra State
Shri Swami Samarth, Maharashtra
Swāmi
Samarth Mahāraj (Marathi: श्रीस्वामी समर्थ महाराज, also known as Akkalkot
Swāmi Mahāraj) of Akkalkot[Tamil:ஸ்ரீ சுவாமி சமர்த்தர்](died 1878) was an
Indian guru of the Dattatreya tradition (sampradaya),
widely respected in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
With Shripad Shri Vallabha and Narasimha Saraswati he is often accounted one
of three successive reincarnations of Guru Dattatreya. The 'Gurucharitra'
gives lot of information about him.
Biography
The Swami
himself said that he came from the Kardali forest. He reputedly visited places
like Puri, Benaras,
Hardwar,
Girnar,
Kathiawad
and Rameswaram
as well as China, Tibet and Nepal, and stayed at Mangalvedha,
a town near Pandharpur
in Solapur
district, before settling down in Akkalkot.[2]
He came to Akkalkot in 1856 at the invitation of Chintopant Tol and stayed
there on the outskirts of the town for 22 years. He stayed at Ganagapura,
Karnataka for a long time where he delivered the Nirguna Padukas to his
disciples and devotees before leaving for the Kardali forest.
It is
popularly believed that his predecessor Shri Narasimha Swami went to Kardali
and entered samadhi.
He remained entranced for three hundred years: an anthill grew over him. One
day accidentally a woodcutter cleared the anthill and found the yogi in
meditation who resumed his teaching as Swami Samarth.
Tradition
- The mantra of this tradition is; Digambara
Digambara shripad vallabh Digambara
- The Siddha Mantra of Shri Swami Samarth is: SHRI
SWAMI SAMARTH JAY JAY SWAMI SAMARTH
- The biography of Shrivallabh is in the in Shrivallabh
Charitra
- The biography of Nrusimha Saraswati is in the Gurucharitra
Miracles of Shri Swami Samarth
A scorpion
bit Sri Swamiji’s servant, Cholappa’s wife. She became restless due to pain.
Those days Sri Swami stayed Cholappa’s house. Sri Swami threw his shoe in front
of Cholappa’s wife and asked her to put the scorpion bit hand inside the shoe.
When she placed her hand in the shoe the pain would disappear, but as soon as
she removed her hand from the shoe the pain would reappear again. Therefore,
she placed her hand in the shoe and slept the whole night.
Once Sri
Swami went along with his devotees to a nearby village called Idagi and took a
halt in a Maruti Mandir. There was a devotee of Sri Swami by name Ravanna. A
snake bit him while working in his field. Unfortunately he died due to the
snakebite. The people of the village brought his dead body to Sri Swami. A
servant of Sri Swami, Baba Saheb Jadhav, placed Sri Swamiji’s shoes on dead
Ravanna’s head. Seeing this, Sri Swami got very angry and started throwing abuses
at Baba Saheb. Finally Sri Swami asked Baba Saheb to loudly call on Ravanna by
his name. As soon as Baba Saheb called his name Ravanna woke up and sat, to the
great surprise of onlookers.
Appasaheb
Bhosle’s wife, a resident of Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg District, Maharashtra,
developed injuries due to disease resulting in 8 to 10 holes in her leg. In
spite of taking all remedial measures there was no relief. Then the Bhosle
couple along with 8-10 people came to Akkalkot. After coming to Akkalkot they
came to know that Sri Swami had gone to Wakdari hill. It was hot summer midday
and they hadn’t eaten anything yet, still they went up the hill to take Sri
Swamiji’s ‘Darshan’. Then Sri Swami said, “To give you ‘Darshan’ only I have come
so far”. Bhosle offered dhotees, bed and pillows, and koupeen to Sri Swami.
Then Bhosle informed Sri Swami regarding the holes in his wife’s leg. Sri Swami
gave abuses and spoke to the lady “come here. How many holes are there in your
leg? This is all the outcome of evil deeds in the past life. You have tried all
the remedial treatments and you are fed up. Now you try this treatment”. There
was a Kunda flower plant. Sri Swami touched that tree and said, “Rub the fruit
of this Kunda plant into a paste and eat it. Then rub elephant tusk into a
paste and apply it to the holes on your leg”. Sri Swami gave prasad of mango
and coconut to the Bhosle couple, and then he got up and went to the cactus
hill to sit. Sri Swami asked the Bhosle couple to go and take meals. Next day,
Sri Swami returned to Akkalkot from the hill. Bhosle couple returned home after
taking the blessings of Sri Swami. The hole injuries got cured completely. The
couple developed such a faith for Sri Swami that they started visiting Akkalkot
very often to get the blessings of Sri Swami.
Devotion of followers through Music
There are
thousands of songs and musical albums created in India by devotees and
followers in devotion of Swami Samarth. The songs are in praise of the swami
and the singer sings words which usually mean that the savior of ones pain and
misery is Shri Swami Samarth. So the singer says, that to remove any hurdles in
ones life one should start praying to Swami Samarth.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My
humble salutations to the great devotees
, wikisources and Pilgrimage tourist guide for the
collection )
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