pundalika.....

How Vithoba of Pandharpur came to Earth can be attributed to a
devotee called Pundalik. Pundalik was a devoted son to his parents
Janudev and Satyavati. They lived in a forest called Dandirvan. But
after Pundalik's marriage he began to ill-treat his parents. Tired
with their son's misbehaviour and ill treatment, they decided to
start for a pilgrimage to Kashi. In those days, Kashi was the prime
place to go for pilgrimage.

But they were not to escape the sufferings so soon. After hearing of
the pilgrimage plans, Pundalik's wife decided to join them. Pundalik
and she then joined the same group of pilgrims on horseback. The ill
treatment of the old couple continued in hands of Pundalik, while
the son and his wife rode on horseback, the frail old couple walked
in bad weather. Pundalik even made his old parents work towards
making his own journey comfortable. Every evening when the party
camped for the night, the son forced his parents to groom the horses
and do other jobs.

On the way to Kashi, the group reached the ashram of a pious sage
Kukkutswami. Being tired from the journey, they decided to spend a
few days there. In the night, when all were asleep, Pundalik was
awake, just before dawn, he saw a group of beautiful, young women,
dressed in dirty clothes, enter the ashram, clean the floor, fetch
water and wash the sage's clothes. Then they entered the inner room
of the ashram and appeared in clean , spotless clothes and
disappeared.

He was very disturbed with what he saw and it remained on his mind
for the whole day. He decided to observe again the next night. He
saw the same scene again. This time however, Pundalik was very
curious. He approached the beautiful women and asked him them on who
they were.

They said, they were Ganga, Yamuna and other holy rivers of India in
which were revered for their holiness and pilgrims thronged to have
a dip in their holy waters to wash away their sins. The holy rivers
explained that their clothes were dirty and unclean due to the sins
of the bathing pilgrims. "But O Pundalik, you, with your ill-
treatment of your parents, are the greatest sinner of them all! "

This incident completely shocked Pundalik and got a transformation
in him. He realized his mis- deeds and became devoted to his
parents. He made all efforts to make his parents comfortable. And
left no stone unturned to make his parents happy, even at the cost
of his own comfort.

They say, devotion in any form reaches God immediately. Seeing this
outmost devotion of Pundalik to his parents , Lord Vishnu was very
pleased. God was so happy with him that He wanted to bless Pundalik
immediately, so he left from Vaikuntha (Lord Vishnu's abode) for
bhoolok (Earth)and Pundalik's ashram.

Lord knocked Pundalik's door. At that time Pundalik was serving his
parents food and was busy. Pundalik heard the door knock and
realized it was God who had come to see him. But such was his
devotion to his parents, he wanted to complete his duties and only
then attend to the visitor, irrespective of whether it was even God
at his doorstep. Pundalik threw a brick outside for God to stand on
and wait for him till he finishes attending to his parents.

Seeing this devotion & commitment to his parents he was extremely
impressed. And the ever-loving God waited for his devotee. When
Pundalik came out and begged God's pardon, Lord Vishnu replied that
far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his
parents and granted a boon to him. Pundalik requested God to stay
back on Earth and bless all his numerous devotees. Lord agreed to
stay back as Vithoba, or God who stood upon a brick. Along with
Vithoba, Rakhumai (Mother Rukmini) is also worshipped.