The Mother Figure in Marathi Bhakti Literature : 2

                       The Mother Figure in Marathi Bhakti Literature : 2

The lonesome foursome siblings, Dnyaneshwara and his brothers and sister, are the lodestars of the Marathi consciousness, each in his own way. If the elder brother, Nivruttinath, is the guru, the father figure for his orphaned younger siblings, Sopan is the tender grace of the younger, the gentler brother. It is, however, the youngest, the sister, who is indeed special. 

Her very name has "aai"/mother in it. She could be and was the mother figure to her great thinker/philosopher brother as the "Tatiche Abhang" assert it. Why, this young girl in her late teens could be the fairy mother figure for the ancient Changdeva, and train and educate his nascent vision magically!

I have always wondered how she would have shouldered the responsibility of an entire household on her very young shoulders after the parents left for the punishment for a crime neither the parents nor the children had committed. Nivruttinath would not be there either as he would be training under Guru Gahininath.

Undoubtedly, the tradition ensnared patriarchal mindset prevalent then must have made her life as a young woman a nightmare in multiple ways. Despite that unmistable viciousness,  there is not a single bitter note  in her `abhangas'. In fact, like a naughty, witty girl's, her bhakti communication is rich with the puzzle effect.

The deepest, most complex philosophical truths and tenets emerge in her poetry in a vivid, in an almost surrealistic imagery that makes the reader unriddle it. Unmistakable is the playful joy. Her writings are hence a treat for the head, the heart and the soul. She is indeed the `'Mukti", the ultimate disengaement, the unshackled liberation.

As in her most famous abhanga, there is a tremendous richness in her images enshrined in a intricate complex thought process presented as a riddle. So the ant can gulp down the sun, the fly can give birth to a kite. The child like innocence of this flight of fancy presents together impossible dualities, tongue firmly in cheek. Yet the deeper symbolic associations of each image are immense. Each one of her works has that rich combo of unique, evn contrary, notions, experiences yoked together with brilliance, both poetic and philosophical. Meet the mother of mothers, in brief!

pratima@ " hasyat ma sat gamay!"/May the                                  innocent joyful laughter                                             lead me to truth!