Johaar Maai-baap Johaar

 Johaar Maai-baap Johaar - Abhang by Sant Chokamela

This is one abhang sung very rarely. One can experience the pains of caste discrimination existed in those days through this Abhang though this abhang is intended to be a token of human's surrender to Super power God.

जोहार मायबाप जोहार | तुमच्या महाराचा मी महार ||१||

बहु भुकेला जाहलों | तुमच्या उष्ट्यासाठी आलों ||२||

बहु केली आस | तुमच्या दासाचा मी दास ||३||

चोखा म्हणे पाटी| आणिली तुमच्या उष्ट्यासाठी

If required, listen to the great Kumar Gandharva or Manjusha-Kulkarni-Patils' rendition by searching in Youtube

Johar is the way of Salutation. It is how the downtrodden or the lower caste people addresses Upper caste people. In Odiya Johar is used for greeting or saluting someone. Johar also meant “warrior”. In Hindi, it means self-immolation (The Rajput Queens used to commit this – Sati), however in this abhang, in this context, it is referring to Salutations.

Johar Maibaap – meaning Salutations to Thee! My father and Mother; which implies that Lord Vithhal showers love on us like a mother and at the same time, He is as protective as a father. When one addresses a person as mai-baap, it means that he has thoroughly surrendered himself at the hands of the one whom he/ she termed as Mai-baap. Here, Sant Chokamela terms Lord Vithhal as mai-baap meaning he had surrendered himself at the hands of Lord Vitthal (just as a kid surrenders to its parents). He surrenders himself with utmost respect and love.

Sant Chokamela further says, “Your Majesty, I am a Mahar (considered as low-caste people who were denied entry into any temple in those days). Today, Mahar is classified under SC/ST category. In olden times, the caste system discriminated against them in many ways. Mahars used to work as unpaid labour. Perturbed by the caste discrimination, Sant Chokamela, complains to Lord Vithhal saying that he is lowest even to the low-class clan. I am low to the lowest – Maharacha Mahar… he says. So the saint is saying that he is so lowly, i.e. a Mahar to your Mahar.

While the above lines are intended to be a token of one’s surrender or submission to God, the metaphors used are indicative of the social norms existed at that time. Due to his caste, he was not allowed to enter the temple of Lord Vitthala, whom he so earnestly worshipped. Mahars used to visit the houses of the upper-caste people, beg for the left-over food (from yesterday) bring home and eat them. They were not paid for their labour but were provided food (mostly leftovers). I am so hungry to have your leftovers. He says, “I am too hungry, I have come to collect the left overs of you..”

He continues, “I have sustained much hopes on you, I am servant of your servants, or Mahar of Mahars, You are my ray of hope, provide me with the left overs…” (Leftover here refers to His Prasad, or blessings)

Paati means afterwards, it also means protect. Ushtyasaathi means “for the sake of left-overs” or “for the sake of lazy-creed”. Anili means Ray.

The story of how the saint died is also noteworthy in this regard. He was from the town of Mangalwedha (in Solapur district of Maharashtra), and was working as a mason in the construction of the city wall. In an unfortunate accident, a section of the wall collapsed on him, thus killing him instantly.

Sant Chokhamela was not allowed to enter the temple till his death. It is said that his bones chanted the name of Lord Vitthal and they were buried at the entrance of the temple. So, any pilgrim visiting the temple first pays obeisance to Sant Chokhamela at the entrance, and then enters the sanctum to worship the Lord.

Another view of looking at the term Johar used in this Abhang:

“Johaar” is a salutation widely used in Orissa. One has to find out why only Mahars in Maharashtra use the term Johar for Salutations. Mahars had a peripheral place in the general scheme of a village. They couldn’t own land, had responsibility to provide security to the village, to act as runners in order to deliver messages to nearby villages etc. It might be the result of a migration to Maharashtra - much later, after the land was owned and the powers-that-be already established in villages. There used to be a particular custom in a traditional village - Mahars had to go to the house of the chief of the village in the morning, bow to him saying “johaar” and get leftover food from him. This looks like a typical condition that a chieftain would impose while agreeing to let the needy migrants stay; making sure that the future generations know who is the boss.

Now the question is - Did they migrate from Orissa? If so, under what circumstances? Have a few Oriya surnames with prefix “Maha” given the name “Mahar” to this community of migrants? Had there been circumstances in the history of Orissa, causing a migration - maybe like a bloody invasion of Kalinga? – One is not sure.

Where can my mind wander?

Abhangs are a popular form of devotional poetry in the Indian language Marathi, and are frequently set to music. Abhang means absolute, eternal, unbroken or a metre (a sound with rhythm). The word Abhang is an opposite to the word Bhang that means break, interrupt or end. Thus, Abhang means Uninterrupted, Continuous, Eternal, Flawless, Endless etc., Or in other words, Abhang refers to flawless continuous processes.  

Abhang is the favourite metre for poets since 13th century where the lyrics will be in simple Marathi and in colloquial form, fully flexible, not more than 4 lines, and in each line not more than 3 to 8 syllables. Warkaris preferred singing Abhangs. Wari, in Marathi, means round trip or pilgrimage. Several great Sants have composed millions of Abhangs which are easy to sing, repeat and has indepth Bhakti bhav in it.

आतां कोठे धावे मन ।

तुझे चरण देखेलिया ॥ १॥

भाग गेला शीण गेला ।

अवघा झाला आनंद ।। २॥

प्रेमरसें बैसली मिठी ।

आवडी लाठी मुखासी ॥ ३॥

तुका म्हणे आम्हां जोगें ।

विठ्ठला घोगें खरें माप ॥४॥

"One who utters God's Name while walking gets the merit of a sacrifice at each step. His body becomes a place of pilgrimage. He who repeats God's Name while working always finds perfect peace. He who utters the God's Name while eating gets the merit of a fast."

O' Lord, after having seen your feet, where can my mind wander? Meaning that now my mind is running nowhere except at your holy feet || 1||

Because of this , all the tiredness, the grief, the sufferings of mine has vanished and what is left is only happiness. I am very very Happy now (being in your presence) || 2||

With love and devotion, I have embraced your name in my mouth. Means I am submerged in the taste of your love and my mouth has attained sweetness with it || 3|

Tuka says that in order to measure this happiness, one requires a measure of the size of Lord Himself. He means Vitthal is the only true and appropriate measure of happiness and greatness as well. || 4||

Background:

Tukaram Maharaj has written this Abhang while being in the state of experiencing the unification with the Divine.

Although he has experienced Unification with the Divine; he has come back to the Dual State (This is what is named as Turya Avastha in the spiritual Language). At this stage one is aware of the surrounding Universe and at the same time one is united with the Divine. Shastras describe it with the example of a Light kept in the door. The light shines and makes the outside of the house visible and simultaneously the inside is also visible.

Meaning:

In the first stanza Tukaram Maharaj is saying that his mind is still remembering and experiencing the Bliss due the union with the Divine. However being in the state of awareness of the world around, he feels that now his mind is not going anywhere except to the Holy feet of Lord Vitthal.

In the second stanza Maharaj describes the effect of the above mentioned experience. He says that he no longer is feeling disturbed/ upset etc now. Thus he says that he no longer is tired.

It is well known that if the mind is not at Peace then one suffers from multiple ailments (Physical as well as Mental) . One ultimately gets tired because of the disturbed state of mind.

The third stanza describes the state of union further. Maharaj has only one feeling in his mind , that is the love for the Lord Panduranga. It is our experience that enjoyment of the taste of any dish, is because of the capability of our tongue. What ever it likes ,it demands the same continuously. In physical terms there is a limit to the feeling of enjoyment which is called Law of Diminishing Return.

But this Law is not applicable for the tongue for the Holy name of Lord. Tukaram Maharaj is saying this by stating that his tongue does not like to do any other thing, except reciting the blissful name of the Lord Panduranga.

Final fourth stanza is using the concept of Measurement of Quantity . Here Maharaj says that if we have to measure the quantum of the experienced Bliss, then it is so large that one has to use a larger Measure for the same. This measure is Lord Himself. He pervades all the universe which is so large that one can not define this largeness. In short the stanza tells us that it is impossible to explain using any means the Bliss one experiences. It can be understood only by those who experience it.

Teaching from this Abhang:-

This Abhang teaches us that we should do the Namasmaran (Chanting) and experience the union with Divine and the Bliss thereon.