Anjana Gadhave of Pune district recalls ovi from a memory storehouse, and sings of the saint-poets Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram, of Lord Vitthal and Rukmini, and tulsi' s marriage, for the Grindmill Songs Project
“Yes, I remember the ovya we sang many years ago. They are all here, in my heart,” says Anjanabai Gadhave, indicating it with her palm.
Anjanabai lives in Savindane village of Shirur taluka in Pune district with her two sons and their wives. Her late mother-in-law Dhondabai Gadhave also sang grindmill songs and they have both been featured on PARI. (See When the daily grind is done ) The family belongs to the Kumbhar (potter) community and outside their home is a shrine of the 12th century Bhakti poet Sant Janabai, sculpted by Anjanabai’s father-in-law Fakira Gadhave.
On October 8, 2017, we went to Savindane but were dismayed to learn that Dhondabai had passed away in 2008. We met Anjanabai that day and recorded her songs on video.
When the PARI team visits villages to meet the singers of the Grindmill Songs Project (GSP), we find that many women can’t easily remember the songs. So we try to jog their memory by reciting some couplets. But Anjanabai remembered almost every ovi of the 17 she had contributed to the grindmill songs database in 1995. She sang 16 for us in a voice that has retained its sweet intonation even 22 years after she performed them for the previous GSP team. She was slightly breathless by the time she finished. After a moment’s pause, rather endearingly she told us, “I am a heart patient, I have a pace maker.”
Songs of devotion and discord
The first eight ovi are about the lives of Bhakti saint-poets Sant Dnyaneshwar (also called Dnyanoba or Dnyanba) and Sant Tukaram (Tuka or Tukoba). Couplets nine to eleven are about the domestic discord between Lord Vitthal and his wife Rukmini. The five couplets at the end of this medley are about tulsi or the holy basil plant, the idealised ‘ pativrata’ or wife selflessly devoted to Lord Vitthal (Lord Krishna or Lord Vishnu).
Some Hindu communities celebrate this devotion by solemnising the tulsi vivah or the marriage of the tulsi plant and Lord Krishna. It is held within a fortnight of the festival of Diwali in the month of Kartik of the Hindu lunar calendar. The wedding feast includes some sour and sweet seasonal fruits like tamarind, bor or ber (Indian jujube) and pieces of sugarcane, all of which are a treat for children.
In the first ovi , Anjanabai asks: Who is the king of Alandi? It is Dnyaneshwar, who resides in the temple on the bank of the Indrayani river, she replies. The second couplet tells us that the town of Alandi where a five-year-old boy took samadhi (a permanent state of meditation; the final resting place) was plastered with silt from the river. His age is not accurate in the song, but Dnyaneshwar was very young when he renounced life. He was born in 1275 AD and was 21 years old at the time of his samadhi in 1296 AD. During his short lifespan, he achieved such literary feats as the Dnyaneshwari * and the Amrutanubhav *, besides composing several ovi and abhang (devotional and mystical poetry).
In the third ovi, the singer tells us about the golden peepal tree with gem-studded leaves that symbolise the spiritual enlightenment attained by Dnyanoba, who took samadhi below the idol of Nandi, the bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. This refers to the underground vault below the Siddheshwar temple in Alandi, Pune district, where Dnyaneshwar is believed to have ended his worldly life.
In the fourth ovi , Anjanabai compares the phenomenon of the fish from Alandi swimming upstream in the Indrayani river to Dehu to the steadfast devotion of Dnyanoba and Tukaram to Lord Vitthal.
Sant Tukaram was born in 1608 in Dehu in Pune district, and his collection of over 4,000 poems forms an important part of Marathi literature. He disappeared without a trace in 1650, and some of his followers believe that he left the earth for Vaikunth (heaven or the celestial abode of Lord Vishnu in Hindu mythology). Couplets five to eight are about this.
The singer asks in ovi five: Who threw popped grain in the deep pools of Dehu (on the Indrayani river)? And answers: As Tuka went away to Vaikunth, his wife Jija was looking for him. In ovi six, the singer asks: Who threw bukka (a fragrant black powder offered by devotees) in the deep pools of Dehu when, cymbals and veena* in hand, Tuka disappeared from the earth? (The people of Dehu had tremendous faith in Tukaram and it is out of respect and devotion that they showered popped grain and bukka at the time of his farewell.).
Ovi seven tells us that Tukaram’s strings of tulsi beads, which floated on the river after he left this world, made the deep waters of the river appear black. In ovi eight we learn that the devotion for Tukaram was so great that the tailor who made the pandal at Dehu wrote his abhang all over the fabric.
In ovi nine, ten and eleven, Anjanabai sings of Rukmini’s anger towards Vitthal; it is so intense that she gives him cold water for his bath. She sits near a pond and is sulking. Her beloved Pandurang (Lord Vitthal) puts his arm around her neck and tries to pacify her. She is reluctant to sit beside him because she cannot bear the lingering dust of abir and bukka*, the fragrant powders that devotees offer Vitthal.
The last five songs are about tulsi , and Anjanabai addresses her as a plant and a pativrata – an idealised woman who worships her husband and is wholeheartedly devoted to him. (This idealisation is socially and culturally rooted in patriarchy, with no parallel in a similarly devoted husband.) She tells her not to wander in the forest and offers her a place in the courtyard of her spacious home, in a rectangular pot called vrindavan . Anjanabai sings that tulsi has no parents and she grows in black soil. Harichandra, the wind, the plant’s friend and brother-in-law, pushes her making her sway and when her leaves are blown away, Lord Vitthal fondly collects them. This couplet shows that Lord Vitthal cherishes her, and this is perhaps why tulsi leaves are offered to the deity during worship.
आळंदी काय गावू कोण्या राजाच गावू
इंद्रायणीच्या कडला ज्ञानेसवराच देवूळ
आळंदी सारवली इंद्रायणीच्या गाळान
जित समाधी घेतली पाच वर्षाच्या बाळान
सोन्याचा पिंपळ याला जडीवाची पान
समाधी घेतयली नंदी खाली ज्ञानुबान
आळंदीचा मासा देहूला गेला कसा
न्यानुबा तुकाराम साधुचा नेम तसा
देहुच्या डोहावरी कुणी उधळली लाही
तुका वैकुंठाला जाई जीजा भोवताली पाही
देहूच्या डोहावरी कुणी उधळीला बुका
हातात टाळवीणा गायीप झाला तुका
देहूचा डव्ह कशानी झाला काळा
तुका गेला वैकुंठाला वर तरंगिल्या माळा
देहूचा मंडप कुण्या शिप्यान शिवीला
तुकायारामाचा वर अभंग लेवीला
रुसली रखमीण हीच रुसण वंगाळ
देवा विठ्ठलाला गार पाण्याची आंघूळ
रुसली रुखमीण जाऊन बसली तळ्याला
प्रितीचा पांडुरंग हात घालीतो गळ्याला
इठ्ठला शेजारी रुखमीण बसना
अबीर बुक्याची हिला गरदी सोसना
तुळशी पतीव्रता नको हिंडू राणीवनी
पैस माझ्या वाडा जागा देते इंद्रावनी
तुळशी पतीव्रता नको हिंडू जंगलात
पैस माझा वाडा जागा देते अंगणात
तुळशी पतीव्रता तुला नाही आईबाप
काळ्या मातीवरी तुझ उगवल रोप
तुळस पतीव्रता हीला कोणीना दीला धक्का
हरीचंद्र हिचा मेव्हणा सखा
तुळशीचा पाला वार्यानी काही गेला
देवा विठ्ठलानी आवडीन गोळा केला
āḷandī kāya gāvū kōṇyā rājāca gāvū
indrāyaṇīcyā kaḍalā jñānēsavarāca dēvūḷa
āḷandī sāravalī indrāyaṇīcyā gāḷāna
jita samādhī ghētalī pāca varṣācyā bāḷāna
sōnyācā pimpaḷa yālā jaḍīvācī pāna
samādhī ghētayalī nandī khālī jñānubāna
āḷandīcā māsā dēhūlā gēlā kasā
nyānubā tukārāma sādhucā nēma tasā
dēhucyā ḍōhāvarī kuṇī udhaḷalī lāhī
tukā vaikuṇṭhālā jāī jījā bhōvatālī pāhī
dēhūcyā māḷāvarī kuṇī udhaḷīlā bukā
hātāta ṭāḷavīṇā gāyīpa jhālā tukā
dēhūcā ḍavha kaśānī jhālā kāḷā
tukā gēlā vaikuṇṭhālā vara taraṅgilyā māḷā
dēhūcā maṇḍapa kuṇyā śipyāna śivīlā
tukāyārāmācā vara abhaṅga lēvīlā
rusalī rakhamīṇa hīca rusaṇa vaṅgāḷa
dēvā viṭhṭhalālā gāra pāṇyācī āṅghūḷa
rusalī rukhamīṇa jāūna basalī taḷyāla
pritīcā pāṇḍuraṅga hāta ghalītō gaḷyāla
iṭhṭhalā śējārī rukhamīṇa basanā
abīra bukyācī hilā garadī sōsanā
tuḷaśī patīvratā nakō hiṇḍū rāṇīvanī
paisa mājhyā vāḍā jāgā dētē indrāvanī
tuḷaśī patīvratā nakō hiṇḍū jaṅgalāta
paisa mājhā vāḍā jāgā dētē aṅgaṇāta
tuḷaśī patīvratā tulā nāhī āībāpa
kāḷyā mātīvarī tujha ugavala rōpa
tuḷasa patīvratā hīlā kōṇīnā dīlā dhakkā
harīcandra hicā mēvhaṇā sakhā
tuḷaśīcā pālā vāryānī kāhī gēlā
dēvā viṭhṭhalānī āvaḍīna gōḷā kēlā
Which
king reigns over Alandi village?
Dnyaneshwar’s temple is on the bank of the Indrayani
Alandi
was plastered with silt from the Indrayani
There,
a five-year-old boy took
samadhi
The gold
pimpal
[peepal tree] has gem-studded leaves
Dnyanoba
took
samadhi
under Nandi [the bull, Lord Shiva’s vehicle]
How did
the fish from Alandi swim upstream to Dehu?
Much
the same as Dnyanoba-Tukaram are drawn to Vitthal
Who scattered
popped grain in the deep pools of Dehu?
As Tuka
goes to Vaikunth, Jija [his wife] looks around [for him]
Who scattered
bukka
in the deep pools at Dehu?
Cymbals
and
veena
in hand, Tuka disappeared
How did
the deep pools at Dehu become black?
Tuka
has gone to Vaikunth, strings of
tulsi
beads
float on the river
Which
tailor has stitched the
pandal
at Dehu?
He has
written Tukaram’s
abhang
on it
Rukhmin
is upset, her anger is bad
[She
gives] cold water for Lord Vitthal’s bath
Rukhmin
is sulking, she goes and sits near a pond
Her
dear Pandurang [Vitthal] puts his arm around her
Rukhmin
is reluctant to sit near Itthal [Vitthal]
She
cannot bear the abundant
abir
and
bukka
Tulsi pativrata
, don’t wander in the forest and
jungle
My
house is spacious, I will give you a place in the
vrindavan*
Tulsi
pativrata
, don’t wander in the jungle
My
house is spacious, I will give you a place in the courtyard
Tulsi
pativrata
, you have no parents
Your
plant grows in the black soil
Tulsi
pativrata
, who pushed her?
Harichandra
[the wind], her friend, her brother-in-law
Tulsi
leaves were blown away by the
wind
Lord
Vitthal fondly collected them
Notes
Abir or gulal : a fragrant orange powder that is offered by devotees to Lord Vitthal and to Bhakti saints, also applied as a dot on the forehead by devotees
Amrutanubhav : Sant Dnyaneshwar’s unique poetic work in the ovi form, consisting of 800 poems of four lines each. It is a meditation on ‘Being’ or ‘the Self’ in the Kashmir Shaivagama tradition. It was translated into contemporary Marathi by Vinda Karandikar and into English by Dilip Chitre as Anubhavamrut – The Immortal Experience Of Being .
Bukka : a fragrant black powder that is offered by devotees to Lord Vitthal and to Bhakti saints, also applied as a dot on the forehead by devotees
Dnyaneshwari : Sant Dnyaneshwar’s commentary in 12th century Marathi on the Sanskrit Bhagavad Gita . It was originally called the Bhavarth Deepika (the light that illuminates the meaning) but is popularly known as Dnyaneshwari , after its author.
Veena : A stringed musical instrument. The veena mentioned in the sixth ovi has a single string.Performer/Singer : Anjanabai Gadhave
Village : Savindane
Taluka : Shirur
District : Pune
Caste : Kumbhar (potter)
Age : 56
Children : Two sons and three daughters
Occupation : Potter and agricultural labourer
These songs were recorded and the photographs were taken on October 8, 2017.
Poster: Sinchita Maji