Majhe Maher Pandhari, Aahe Bhim Ratya tiri.. (or Bheevarechya tiri..)
Pandharpur is my maternal home, that is on the banks of River Bheema. (Maher = maternal home)
Maher in Marathi means maternal home!
In Indian household, among women, the maternal home always has a special place. For every woman, even after decades of marriage and having lived in the extended family, maternal home (mother’s home) always remains a special place for her. The reasons are very many but no place fills the place of a maternal home.
Sant Eknath, in this Abhang, describes Pandharpur as his maternal house – a very special place to him in his life, a place he always wishes to go, where he can go and stay at his own wish, spend time at his own will and yet none complains. He gets all the liberty to do at this place. It is a place of respite for him. Or in another sense, Pandharpur is his real home.
Baap aani aayee, majhi Vittal Rakumayee…
Lord Vittal & Rukmani are my Father & Mother (aani = and)
Sant Eknath has mentioned Pandharpur as his maternal home and obviously Goddess Rukmani becomes his Mother because Mother Rukmani with Lord Vittal resides in Pandharpur. Thus Lord Vittal and Rukmani become the parents of Sant Eknath. He indirectly says that they are the parents for the whole world, all of us are children of Vittal & Rukmani and hence we should not be discriminating among people, we all are brothers & sisters.
Pundalik raahe bandhu, tyaachi khyati kaay saangu?
Bhakt Pundalik (for whom Lord Krishna is standing on the brick at Pandharpur as Vittal) is my brother, What more can I tell about his wide spread fame? (Khyati = fame; saangu = to say)
For every Indian woman, her brother, is very important in her life. Just like she has a soft corner for her maternal home, she also has a soft corner for her brother. Pundalik is being considered as brother by Sant Eknath in his Abhang – meaning he is blessed to consider a great Bhakt like Pundalika as his brother for whom the Lord Himself not only came down but also waited (stood) on a piece of brick for him because he was busy serving his parents. By saying this, Sant Eknath implies that service to parents is more than service to God.
Chandrabagaha, the river that flows around Pandharpur is my sister, who purifies all by washing away the sins. (Bahin = sister)
The river Bheema flows in such a way that if seen from the top, it looks like a crescent moon and so it is also called as Chandrabagha. Sant Eknath believes himself to be so blessed that he belongs to such a family. His brother being the reason for Lord Krishna to be in Pandharpur and his sister purifies the people of this Universe by washing their sins away.
Ekaa Janardaneem sharana, Kari Maheraachi Aathavana…
Sant Eknath surrenders to the one and only Janardhan, the Supreme Lord and also fondly remembers his maternal home. (aathavana = to remember; maheraachi = of maternal home)
Janardhan is the name of Sant Eknath’s Guru. As a tribute to his Guru, Sant Eknath always used Eka & Janardhan as Mudras for the Abhangs written by him. Sant Eknath says, “I take refuge in Janardhan the Only One (who can save me)” means he surrenders himself to Guru, who can show him the right path to follow so that he can cross over this Samsara Ocean or in other words, he surrenders himself to the Supreme Lord who is the only refuge to the entire Universe.
He adds to that whenever he remembers of his maternal home he gets a pleasure – Maternal home is Pandharpur. Whenever he remembers of Pandharpur, it is obvious that you cannot skip remembering Vittal – remembering Vitthal brings happiness to Sant Eknath
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