Shree Swami Samarth Maharaj

A Short Biography of Shree Swami Samarth 103
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Blind People Gets Eyesight
Chimatai
There was a rich lady in Pune, named Umabai Saheb. Her niece Chimatai Raste
lost her eyesight after marriage. For nearly six years she underwent different types of
treatments but all in vain. Ultimately they took Chimatai to Sri Swami Samarth at
Akkalkot. Sri Swamiji asked Chimatai “What do you want? ”. She was very young and
fearless. She said “What else? I want my eyesight”. Sri Swamiji said, “Why is it so
difficult? Put the milk of a she-cat in your eyes for seven days and also drink that milk”.
After returning to Pune, she was treated by she-cat milk and she regained her eyesight.
Nagoo Anna Lawyer
In Moregaon village of the then Hyderbad State there was a lawyer named
Nagoo Anna Kulkarni. At the age of forty he lost his eyesight. He spent lots of money
taking all types of treatments but in vain. Finally he came to a holy place Tulzapur in
Osmanabad District, Maharashtra, to render service - circumambulating 182 the temple of
Goddess Bhawani 183 . He rendered this service for nearly six months. One day a middleaged
lady wearing white saree came to him and said, “Don’t continue here. Go to
Akkalkot”. Nagoo Anna was confused. However, the lady again appeared in his dream
and ordered him to go.
Ultimately, he completed all the formalities of worshipping Goddess Bhavani and
went to Akkalkot to render service to Sri Swamiji. When he reached Akkalkot Sri
Swamiji was resting on a cot. Sri Swamiji said, “Why is this calamity sent to me? If one
keeps silent such calamities will continue to come here”. Then Sri Swamiji spoke to
Nagoo Anna “Why have you come here? Go to Pandharpur 184 . Hearing this Nagoo Anna
became angry and said “Six months I rendered service at Tulzapur. Goddess Bhavani
directed me here for treatment. Now Sri Swamiji has directed me to go to Pandharpur.
Saints and ascetics advise people in difficulties to approach Gods or Goddess for relief.
So I went to Tulazapur and rendered my service to Goddess Bhavani. Had the Goddess
told me that my eyesight would not be restored, then why should I undergo so much
pain? ”. He would continue to say more things but Sri Swamiji rebuked him “Now go to
182 Circumambulating: Walking around the temple from left to right.
183 Godess Bhavani: Goddess Parvati. Lord Shiva’s consort.
184 Pandharpur: Holy place of Lord Vithoba the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Pandharpur is a town in state of Maharashtra in
Western India. Pandharpur is one of the most respected pilgrimage sites in Maharashtra. It is located on the banks of the
Bhima river, which is also known as Chandrabhaga. Pandharpur hosts the famous Vithoba temple, on the banks of the river.
Vithoba is considered to be Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu; Vitthala is said to have been derived from the word Vishnu in
Kannada. Vithoba's consort is Rakhumai or Rukmini.
The worship of Vishnu - Vitthala at Pandharpur is derived mainly from the puranas and has been augmented by the
contribution of the great Vaishnava saints of Maharashtra from the 13th through the 17th centuries (Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, ,
Sant Eknath, Tukaram).
This temple, covering a vast area, has a total of six gates. The eastern entrance to this temple is known as the Namdev gate.
The sanctum enshrines a standing image of Vithoba also known as Panduranga, Pandhari or Vitthala.
Pandharpur hosts 4 "Yatras" in a year - of which "Aashadhi Yatra" is the one which attracts most (around 0.4 million) piligrims
to Pandharpur. Piligrims take holy bath in river Bhima and usually stand in queues 3km long in order to take "Darshana" of
lord Vitthala.
Copyright © 2006 Shree Vitthalrao Joshi Charities Trust