Sant eknath images

Maharashtra had many saints born here who left an immeasurable impression on the social and cultural life of Maharashtra. Sant Eknath is one of them. Eknath was born in 1553 in the Mool nakshatra. Children born in the mool nakshatra considered fatal for the parents, is why after the birth of Eknath, within few days his parents died. His father’s name was Suryanarayan and mother’s name was Rukmini. His grandfather’s name was Chakrapani who was the son of great devotee Bhanudas. After the death of his parents, Chakrapani took care of his grandson. Shri Chakrapani was a great scholar of his times. Shri Eknath was also very intelligent and had a great faith in God. He was always busy with prayers, temple and reciting Lord’s name. Because of powerful memorizing power, he speedily progressed in studies. It is said that when Eknath was twelve years old, he was so desperate for a Guru that once while he was in a Shiv temple, he heard an oracle saying, “You go to Devgadh. Your guru Janardan Swami is there.” After hearing this oracle, Eknath set out to Devgadh without informing anyone. After reaching there, he bowed to Shri Janardan Pant and requested him to consecrate him. Pleased with him, guru accepted him as his disciple and consecrated him. He served his Guru for six years. His devotion for his guru was immense. To serve his guru, he always slept after his guru slept and got up much before he was awake and took care the whole day so that his guru had no trouble. It is said that...

Sant Eknath is one of the greatest saints of Maharashtra. He was born in Paithan on the banks of the Godavari River around 1533. Paithan is a holy place, and in those days it was a centre of Sanskrit learning, as well as of Brahminical orthodoxy. Eknath was the great grandson of the well-known saint, Saint Bhanudas. His parents died when he was three years old, and he was brought up by his grandparents. He became a disciple of Janardana Swami who lived a little distance away from his town. One story has it that he ran away from home and stayed with his Guru for 12 years. Another story says that he was entrusted to Janardana Swami by his grandfather Chakrapani. This is more likely since there are historical records which show that Janardana Swami and Chakrapani were scholars and good friends. His Guru made him undergo spiritual disciplines and taught him Sanskrit grammar, philosophy and basic texts of Vedanta and other holy books. It was here that Eknath studied the Jnaneshwari, Jnandeva's commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, and his mastery of this classic comes through in his writings. Janardana Swami was a state official, and Eknath helped him in his official work. Essentially, however, Janardana Swami was interested in his disciple's spiritual progress and he took every opportunity to drive home a lesson. On one occasion he asked Eknath to square up the accounts. Eknath discovered that there was a discrepancy of one adhela (the equivalent of one paisa) in the accounts, and ...