Memories (4)…

Manaa Sajjana Bhaktipanthechi Jaave, Tari ShriHari Pavijeto Swabhaav,. Jani nindya the sarv soduni dyave,. Jani vandya te sarv Bhave karave…

Jay Jay Raghuveer Samarth…

On towards Sajjangad after lunch…

We reach the foothills of the fort and start climbing… Around 225/230 steps and you are there… But the road up is steep yet divine as after every few steps are the replica idols of Lord Hanuman installed by Swami Ramdas at various places during His lifetime…

The main gate… We enter Sajjangad… Awed by the gates and head bowed down to Chhatrapati Shivaji on reading its history…

This fort was quite old even before Shivaji won it… He won it from the Adilshah on 2nd April 1663… The fort was known as Parali then… As Maharaj came on the fort and saw its neighbouring area, he felt that it was the best place for his mentor Samarth Swami Ramdas to reside… So Maharaj invited Swami Ramdas and the Swami consented… A grand ceremony took place and Swami Ramdas named the fort Sajjangad (the fort of the noble)… Swami Ramdas made this fort His permanent residence and later it became His permanent resting place too…

As Swami Ramdas resided here, the place gained a lot of importance… People from all over started visiting this fort to meet Swami Ramdas and ask for his guidance… During this time, He moved in and around Sajjangad and the Maratha empire… He breathed His last at Sajjangad at the age of 73… Chhatrapati Shivaji was no more and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj had taken his place… Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Rajaram Maharaj both rushed to Sajjangad on hearing the news and built Swami Ramdas’s Samadhi there on the fort itself… And so then onwards, He lies there, guiding all those who come to Him…

We first went to the Ram Mandir… Beautiful idols of Ram, Sita and Laxman reside in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple installed by Swami Himself, during His lifetime… The temple has a small secret passage that takes one downstairs and just below the idols of Ram, Sita and Laxman is the Samadhi of Swami Ramdas…

A divine place, electrifying atmosphere… When we reached the samadhi place, there was no one, except us… The students of the Vedic pathshaala in the Gad were reciting Dasbodha which made the atmosphere pious… So I sat down and the memories from what I had read started passing in front of my eyes…

“Shubh Mangal Savdhaan”… Narayan is in his own thoughts… I have promised my mother to stand on the pedestal to get married… I have fulfilled my promise to her… So now am free… And with this thought in mind, Narayan on hearing ‘Savdhaan’ runs away…

Narayan is no other than Swami Ramdas in his childhood… He goes far away and starts His pilgrimage of India… He transforms during the next few years and is christened Ramdas by His guru… He comes back to Maharashtra and settles there… Starts writing from what He has learnt during his journey…

He meet Shahaji Raje and instills a thought of Swarajya in his mind… This is the beginning of Swarajya… Meanwhile Shivaji and Jijabai have settled in Pune… (Now all this if planned needs to be looked into by historians)… Swami Ramdas goes to a village and builds a Maruti (Hanuman) temple at the outskirts… He starts training youth in warfare… He teaches the youth the importance of fitness and strength… It takes a lot of time…

After a few years, He establishes a Math in this village and hands it over to His disciple Kalyan Swami and moves onto next village… The cycle goes on… Many youth are being readied and these are the future Mavlas of Shivaji…

This is the work of Swami Ramdas and His equation with Shivaji… No doubt, that Shivaji accepts Him as his Guru… The words for Shivaji written by Swami Ramdas also need to be read and understood (it needs another blog)… Swami Ramdas mentored Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj too… He has written a letter to Sambhaji Maharaj on becoming the Chhatrapati, of what a Chhatrapati should do and not do (again another time)…

The time passed quickly… An hour passed by… Was jolted back from my thoughts and we all moved out… It was late evening but was tempted to see the Hanuman temple at the back of the Gad… Atleast if cannot go there, would pay my obeisance from.distance looking at its flag (that is again a custom in India, another blog)…

As we went behind the temple, a beautiful sight awaited us… A lake, a dam… Water 24 hrs, 365 days… Learnt that the lake provides water to villages far as 50/60 km through channels running under mountains…

An airy place, paid my respects to the temple from.far off and took the flight of stairs downstairs…

Now onto Kolhapur… Hotel booked… Checked in… Good night sleep…

A hectic day tomm…