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8/9/2019 The Origin of Vitthala --A New Interpretation
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handarkar Oriental Research Institute
THE ORIGIN OF VITTHALA : A NEW INTERPRETATIONAuthor(s): S. G. TulpuleSource: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 58/59, Diamond JubileeVolume (1977-1978), pp. 1009-1015Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41691767 .
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8/9/2019 The Origin of Vitthala --A New Interpretation
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THE
ORIGIN OF
VITTHALA :
A
NEW
INTERPRETATION
By
S.
G.
TULPULE
Various theories
have come
forth
about the
origin
of
god
Vitthala
of
Pandharpur.
They
are
generally
based on
two different
my
ho
ogica'
legends,
one of
Pundalîka
to honour whose
devotion for his
parents
Lord
Krsnastood ( and is stillstanding on thebricktossed
by
him towardsHim,
and
the other
according
to
which
Vitthala,
said to be
identicalwith
Krsna-
Gopãla,
actually
ame
from
Dvãrakã
to
Pandharpur
s a
wandering
owherd,
followed
by
his
companions,
the
Gopas,
and
his
cows,
in search of
his
consort
Rukminx
ho had
left
him n
anger
because of his
amorous
dealings
with
Rãdhã.1
Now
if
thisaccount s to
agree
with
he
first
ne,
the reunion
of
the two could not
have
taken
place
before
Vitthala,
alias
Krsna,
had
revealed himself o Pundalîka and
taken his stand on
the brick As
Vaudeville
ays,
the
Rukminl
tory
tself would
be sufficiento
explain
how
Vitthala-Krsna ame to
Pandharpur.2
Yet the tradition s unanimous n
asserting
hat t
was Pundalika's
holiness and not
Rukmini's
waywardness
that
actually
brought
Vitthala to
that
place.
She, therefore,
akes
the
Rukminï
pisode
as an
attempt
to
explain
why
Vitthala
tands lone in the
great
emple
t
Pandharpur
without
is
consort
y
his
side. This
hypothesis,
however,
does
not
resolve
satisfactorily
the basic
difference
between
the
two
egends
mentioned bove.
Attempts
ere,
herefore,
ade
to
seek the
origin
of
god
Vitthala elsewhere
and,
as
expected,
the
Lilãcaritra,
the
earliestMarãthí work
belonging
to the
Mahãnubhãva sect c. 1278 A.D. )
giving
necdotes
of
Cakradhara,
the
founder
of
that
sect,
came in
handy
for
this
purpose.
This work
contains a
l'ila,
bearing
the
title
Vithalavîru-
kathana which
ives
an
account
of the
origin
f
god
Vitthala
so
provoking
as
to be
by
itself
sufficienteason
of hatred
between he
Mahãnubhãva and
Vãrkaries. 3
The
story
s
narrated
y
Cakradhara
n
reply
o
a
query
from
his
inquisitive
emale
discipleMahdãisã,
runs
thus
Vitthala,
a
Brahmin,
was a
robber,
who,
together
with
two
others,
Nemadeva
a fisherman
nd
Mhãyã
a
gurava,
ooted
and
murdered ravellers.
1.
Vide
rindurafiga-mShãlmyafárídhara,
h.
and I
( Bombay,
903
.
2.
Charlotte
audeville,
andharpur,
he
ity
f
Saints.
Structuralism
n
South
ndia
Ed. Yocum
nd
Buck,
Chamberbury,enn.,
p.
146-147
.
3.
N.
Kalelkar,
a
secte
ahanubhao,
.
7.
127
Annnlí
D.J.]
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1010
ÀBORI
:
Diamond Jubilee Volume
All three
belonged
to
Mangalvedhe
(
near
Pandharpur .
One
day,
they
attackedone Mãidaranã and triedto take away his cows byforce. In the
fight
hat
ensued,
Nemadeva and
following
im Vitthala
died on
the
village
land.
(
On
bearing
his
,
the
sons of Vitthala
came
there nd
they
rected
a
bhadakhambã
r memorial
illar
n
his
memory.
Their mother stablished
a
liriga
there. A
deity
identified
tself
with
this
pillar
which,
therefore,
began fulfilling
he wishes of the
people
who
worshipped
t.
The name
of
the wifeof
Vitthala was
Lãkhãi or
Lakhamãi. His
sons
used
to
compose
songs
and mention heir
arents,
Vitho-Rukminî,
n
the mudrikã.
In
this
way
Vitthala
came
to
fame.
4
If this
account
s
true,
which t
is
not,
t raises
a
number f
problems.
Cakradhara,
its
narrator,
id not of course nvent t.
At
the mosthe
might
have
given
n
old
legend
twist
o as
to
fit t
n
his
apologetic
aim.
But t
s
difficulto
believe
hat
there
was such
rivalry
nd
animosity
etween hese wo
cults
-
of
Vitthala
nd of Cakradhara
-
at
their
very beginning. Secondly,
the
story
onnectsVitthala
not with hero
who
died
an
honourable
death
on the
battlefiled ut
with robber who died
in
the
despicable
act of
way-
laying.
It
is
not
probable
that hero-stonewould
be erected n the
memory
of such a vilepersonwho was laterdeified ntogod Vitthala. Thirdly, here
is
a
suggestion
towards
the
close
of
the
story
that the sons of this
thief
Vitthala,
who must
be
no other
han
he celebrated
oet-saint
JSãnadeva nd
his
brothers,
omposed
devotional
songs
using
the names of
their
parents»
namely,
Vitho and
Rukminî,
s
theirmudrikã
Now it
is
well known
that
JSãnadeva
often
makes
use of
the
phrase bãpa
rakhumãdevivara
itthala as
his
mudrikã
n
his
abhaňgas,
and
the above
suggestion
s, therefore,
ot
only
of a
condemning
ature
but
also anachronous.
For we know that JSãnadeva
was
born after he
passingaway
of Cakradhara
n 1272
or
1274 A.D. and
any
referenceo himbythe atters thereforeistoricallympossible. Andfinally,
Cakradhara
was tolerant as
can
be
seen
from his various anecdotes and
utterances
ontained
n
the Lilãcaritra.
On
one
occasion,
for
example,
while
commenting pon
the nhibition f
the
ãcãryas
in
the
Vedic
tradition
egard-
ing
the attitude
f a Brahmin owards
Buddhism,
Cakradhara
frankly ays
^Rqi-ťfl
snw
3ft
«PI?
^Tt
rçfëPTT
meaning,
hould
one
break
the
image
of
a
deity
even
if t
belongs
to
the
enemy?5
It is therefore
ighly
improbable
that
he would
thus
vilify
ny
other cult
or
its
deity.
These
discrepancies
n
the
account
given
n
the Lilãcaritra
naturally
make
scholars
likeDeleuryand Dhere question its authenticity.There is no doubt that
the
fila
s a
highly
manipulated
ne.
4.
Lilãcaritra
ttarardha,
art
I,
No.
411
(
Ed.
S. G.
Tulpule,
oona,
967
.
5.
Ll¡ücqritra
Pürvärdha,
art
,
p.
90,
^o.
185,
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TulpULE
:
The
Origin of
Vitthala
1011
But
so
far we had
before
us
only
the
Nene-text
f the Lilãcaritra
whichwas used
by
the
present
writer n his editionofthis work
published
ü
five
partsduring
1964-1967.
Fortunately
olte,
a
recognized uthority
n
the
Mahãnubhãva
iterature,
as obtained
n
authentic
ersion
of
this
ijä
which
he has
included
n his about-to-be
ublished
ritical
dition f
the
Lilãcaritra.
The source of
this
version s
the text f the Lilãcaritra
known
as the Pidhï-
pãtha
which s the
oldest
and
the
most
reliable.
Kolte's text
of this
lila
is
naturally
much shorter
han
the mutilated
one
which has been before s
all
these
years.
It
is
as follows
¿tarrifo#
Ř&
:
^
5ft
ÇSuft
TT
à
5ft
çrâf
noftči§
šfíf
|T
^
;
čj?TT
ïN
sffël
ïPTfcft ïtt
fT
lïïf%55T
TS#IT
ct*T
RTT
ěj^T
:
àt
^
*FÏrô
^tl
3#:
Il
The
above lila
or
anecdote
contains
he
following
acts
(1)
Mahãdãisã,
a
disciple
of
Cakradhara,
requests
him to
explain
thereasonbehind henadanäca or festival f bhakti oing on in Pandharpur.
(The
stone-inscription
f
Saka
year
1111
[
1189
A.D.
]>
edited
by
the
present
writer,
ells
us that
the
temple
of Vitthala
there
was founded
n
its
original
unicellular
form
n that
year.
It
is, therefore,
atural hat
the festival
f
bhakti
going
on
there hould
become
well knownall over
Mahãrãstra
about
a
hundred
years
ater. Here
it is
just curiosity
n the
part
of the
questioner,
Mahãdãisã,
while
in
the Nene-text
of the same
fila
she
wishes
to
know
whether
he
popular
belief
hat Vitthala
s an incarnation
f
Šrikrsna
s
true
or
not.
(
2
)
Cakradhara
replies
o
the above
question
saying
that
a
hero
named
Vitthala died while
protecting
he cows
and
a
memorial
n the form
of
a
bhadakhambä
>Sk.
bhataskambha
was
erected
in
his
memory.
(
The
very
word
bhadakhambä
mplies
hat
t was a
memorialto
a
hero and
to
none else.
(3)
This
bhadakhambä
was
accepted
as its
own
by
a
deity,
or,
in
other
words,
the
deity
identified
tself with
it,
and the
result
was that
the
memorial
stone,
having
thus obtained
supernaturalpowers,
began
to
fulfilhewishesof those who worshippedt. ( This last event suggests he
deification
f the
hero-stone.
The above
account does
away
with
the
need for
presupposing
ny
rivalry
between
the
Mahãnubhãva
and
the
Vârkarï
cults
at
least
in
thç
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1012
ÂBORI : Diamond Jubilee
Volume
beginning,,
or it
does not even
suggest
any
vilification
f
god
Vitthala.
This account also does not raise the problemof a thiefbeing glorified,
nor does
it make
any
ndirect eference o
Jñanadeva
vitiating
hronological
sequence.
This
text
of
the above lila also shows Cakradhara
as
a well
informed
person
and
nothing
more.
It does not tarnish
his
image
by
making
himthe
author f some fictitiousnd intolerant
ales. The
appearance
of the
devatãor the
deity
n both of these
versions
an
best
be
explained
by
the
metaphysics
f Cakradhara which
accepts
the devatãs
as one
of
the
foureternal
principles
of this
universe,
occupying
a
position
lower
than
that of the
Supreme
God. These devatãs
identify
hemselves
with some
objects
ike
stone,
metalor water and exhibit heir
powers
through
hem.
Here one of the local deities of
Pandharpur
dentifies
tself
with
the
hero-
stone
commemorating
he
cow-protector
Vitthala and
starts
meeting
he
wishes of the
people
who
worship
it. In
short,
the
god
Vitthala
of
Pandharpur
s,
according
o
Cakradhara,
a deified
hero-stone. It
is
typical
of
Indian
religious processes
hat often
gruesome
or
primitive
cults
get
superseded
by
new
religious ayers.
Thus,
at the
root,
historically
een,
this
hero-cult
may
have been in
worship.
It
became
jãgrta
and
people
started
worshipping
t. Its
characterwas
changed
from Šaivite
hero-cult
to the Vaisnava Vitthala cult of the vãrkaris.
It
became,
so
to
say,
a
quite
different
od.
This
theory
f
the
origin
of Vitthala
s
supportedby
a
unique
find
of Sontheimer
n the form of a
hero-stone t
Pandharpur
the
ocation
of
which
is
exactly
pposite
to
the mahãdvãra
or
the main entrance
of
the
temple
f Vitthala.6 It
shows
cows,
indicative
f
a
cattle-raid,
lso
horse-
men
fighting
nd
the
usual
apsarãs carrying
he
hero
towardsheaven.
The
top panel
is
apparently
missing,
ut it must
have
presented
he usual
depiction
of the hero worshippinghe liňgam. The fact thatthis s the onlyhero-
stone
found t
Pandharpur
nd its ituation
rovide
mple proof
or he
heory
of hero-stone-based
Vitthala. The
change-over
from
the
worship
of the
original
hero-stone o
that of
the
present
Vitthala must
have taken
place
later when
the hero-stonewas
given
human
form n
the
present
mage
of
Vitthala.
As
pointed
out
by
Deleury,
its akimbo
position
bears
striking
similarity
with
the
images
of Blr
Kuar,
the
cattle-god
of the
Ãhirs
of Western
Bihar,
who
is most
probably
the deification
f
an
Ãhir
hero,
killed in
protecting
his herd
of
buffaloes
gainst
cattle-thieves
r
tigers.7
6.
Dr.
Güntherontheimer
f heSüdasien
nstitut,eidelberg,
s
a
keen tudent
of hero-
aíí- tones
nd
his work n
Memorialtones
f
ndia,ointly
onewith
Dr. Settarf
heKarnatak
niversity,
harwar,
s
n
press.
7.
G. A.
Deleury,
heCult
f
Vithoba,oona,
960,
p.
165-166
nd
183.
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Vïragala
(Pandharpur)
( By
courtesy
fDr.
G.
Sontheimer
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1ÓÍ4
ABO RI
:
Diamond
Jubilee Voîumê
And,
significantly
nough,
Bír Kuar
is
also identifiedwith
Krsna who
him-
selfwas a cattle-god.8 The festiveparty f kãlã inPandharpur, escribed y
poet-saints
ike Nãmadeva and
others,
s a
typical
remnant f the
pastoral
origin
f
the cult of
Vitthala.9
Kãlã
is
a
kind
of
gruel
nd has
its
origin
n
the
Rgvedic
karambha described
by
Dandekar as the
pastoral
food of
the
Yedic
god
Püsan,
the
god
of
a
nomadic
pastoral
tribe.10
This automati-
cally
negates
he
theory
f a self-immolated ain
saint
as
being
the
origin
f
Vitthala
nd
establishes
n
stead the hero-cultwhich
developed
later
into
the
cult of Vitthala.11 This
origin
f
the
ruling
deity
of
Pandharpur
need
not disturb
ts
devotees,
for all
gods,
as
Rãmdãs
says,
have
grown
out
ofstones, nd god Vatthala s no exception o this.
The above
theory rings
ut
the
following
alient
points
(
1
)
The
origin
f Vitthala
s in a
hero-stone
rected n the
memory
of a hero
named
Vitthalawho died in
bravery.
(
2
)
This hero-stone
was
originally
bhadakhambã
and
it was
only
ater hat
t
took the
form f Vitthala n
his
present
kimbo
position.
If
the
original
hero-stone was deified
nto
god
Vitthala,
the
atterwas
in his
turnhumanised
nto his
present
form.
Thus,
the
processes
of
deification
nd humanisation
seem
to
have alternated.
(
3
)
Pandharpur
was
resounding
with
bhakii
at the
time
of the
narration
f the I'M
under
reference,.e.,
in
about
1
190-92,
as
is seen
from the
use of the word nadamca
(
>
Sk. nata-
nrtya
whichoccurs
n
the
JMnešvari lso.12
This
meansthat
Pandharpur
was
already
a centre
f
bhakii even beforeJããna-
deva and Nãmadeva came on the scene.
(4)
Naturally
here
was no
question
of
any
rivalry
between he two
cults
and theMahãnubhãva
sect did not
come
up
as
a
challenge
to
the
Bhägavata
cult or vice versa.
8.
W.
G.
Archer,
heVertical
an,
lates,
, 9, 11, 15,
etc.
9. Nãme
e
a
Gãlhã,
d.
T. H.
Avate,
oona,
924,
Nos.
23,
24.
10.R. N.Dandekar,Pïïsan,he Pastoral od ftheVeda , New ndianntiquary,
5,
49 1942
.
11.
G.
A.
Deleury,
p. it.,
.
190
ndff.
12.
E.g. Jñ
ne
ari,
ovt.
d.,
Ch.
X,
No.
196
I
Rjwr
i 3
ïiTfi
mrt
i ̂
n
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TULPULE
:
The
Origin of
Vitihaìa
Ì015
(
I
have
to
thankDr. Günther Sontheimerfor
kindly providing
me
with
photo-copy
f the
Pandharpur
ero-stone
long
with ts
critique
and
inspiring
me to write
this
paper.
I am also
indebted
to
Dr. V. B.
Kolte,
retiredVice-Chancellor f
the
Nagpur
University,
or
making
vailable
to me
the relevant ilã from his
edition
of
the Lllãcaritra even
before
ts
publi-
cation.
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