Muktabai

Muktai Vitthalpant Kulkarni
2003 Indian Stamp depicting Muktabai
Personal
Born	1279 Alandi
Died	1297 Muktainagar
Religion	Hinduism
Organization
Order	Varkari tradition
Philosophy	Vaishnavism
Religious career
Guru	Dnyaneshwar
Disciples Changdev
Literary works	Abhangapoetry,Tati ughada dnaneshwara
Honors	Santin Marathi, meaning "Saint"

MuktabaiorMuktawas a saint in theVarkariMovement. She was born in aDeshastha Brahminfamily and was the younger sister ofDnyaneshwar,the firstVarkarisaint.She wrote forty-oneabhangsthroughout her life.

Early life

Muktabai's father's name was Vitthalpant Kulkarni, and her mother was Rukminibai Kulkarni.She had 3 elder brothers named Sopan, Dnyaneshwar (also known as Gyaneshwar Mauli), Nivrutti. Folk stories says that these children studied Vedas. Nivruttinath, Dnyandev, and Sopandev

• Brothers of Saint Muktai-

The siblings Muktabai, Sopan, Dnyaneshwar and Nivrutinath seated on the flying wall greet Changdev seated on a tiger. In the centre, Changdev bows to Dnyaneshwar.

1. Nivruttinath:The eldest brother of Muktabai, Nivrutti was an authority on the philosophy of theNath.Gahininath, one of the nine Nath gurus, accepted Nivrutti as his disciple and initiated him into the Nath sect, instructing him to propagate devotion to ShriKrishna.Dnyaneshwar accepted his elder brother as his own guru. After the early samadhi of Dnyaneshwar, Nivrutti travelled with his sister Muktai on a pilgrimage along theTapti River,where they were caught in a thunderstorm and Muktai was swept away. Nivrutti obtained samadhi at Tryambakeshwar. Around 375 abhangs are attributed to him but the authorship of many of them is disputed due to difference in writing style and philosophy.

1. Dnyaneshwar(1275–1296):The second of the siblings was a 13th-centuryMarathisant,poet, philosopher andyogiof theNathtradition whoseDnyaneshwari(a commentary on theBhagavad Gita) andAmrutanubhavare considered to be milestones inMarathi literature.

1. Sopan:Her younger brother, attainedsamadhiat Saswad nearPune.He wrote a book, theSopandevibased on the Marathi translation of theBhagavad Gitaalong with 50 or soabhangs.

Traditional history

According toNathtradition Muktabai was the last of the four children of Vitthal GovindKulkarniand Rukmini, a pious couple from Apegaon nearPaithanon the banks of the riverGodavari.Vitthal had studied theVedasand set out on pilgrimages at a young age. InAlandi,about 30 km fromPune,Sidhopant, a local Yajurveda Brahmin, was very much impressed with him and Vitthal married his daughter Rukmini.

After some time, getting permission from Rukmini, Vitthal went toKashi(Varanasi), where he met Ramananda Swami and requested to be initiated intosannyas,lying about his marriage. But Ramananda Swami later went to Alandi and, convinced that his student Vitthal was the husband of Rukmini, he returned to Kashi and ordered Vitthal to return home to his family. The couple was excommunicated as Vitthal had broken with sannyas, the last of the fourashrams.Four children were born to them; Nivrutti in 1273, Jñāneśvar in 1275, Sopan in 1277 and daughter Muktai in 1279. According to some scholars their birth years are 1268, 1271, 1274, 1277 respectively. It is believed that later Vitthal and Rukmini ended their lives by jumping into the waters atPrayagwhich is the confluence of three rivers, theGanges,Yamuna,and the now extinctSaraswati,hoping that their children would be accepted into the society after their death.

Earlier the couple set out on a pilgrimage with their children to Tryambakeshwar, nearNashik,where their elder son Nivrutti (at the age of 10) was initiated into theNathtradition by Gahininath. The paternal great grandfather ofDnyaneshwarhad been initiated into the Nath cult by Goraksha Nath (Gorakh Nath). Theorphanedchildren grew up onalms.They approached the Brahmin community ofPaithanto accept them but the Brahmins refused. According to the disputed "Shuddhi Patra" the children were purified by the Brahmins on condition of observing celibacy. Their argument with the Brahmins earned the children fame and respect due to their righteousness, virtue, intelligence, knowledge and politeness. Dnyaneshwar became the student ofNivruttinathalong with his younger siblings Sopan and Mukta at the age of 8. He learnt and mastered the philosophy and various techniques ofKundalini yoga.

Writings

• "Tatiche Abhang" (The Song of the Door) -

She says: "An ascetic is pure in mind and forgives the offences of people. If the world is hot as fire owing to exasperation, a sage should with pleasure be cool as water. If people hurt them with weapons of words, saints should treat those remarks as pieces of advice. This universe is a single piece of cloth woven with the one thread of Brahman, so please open the door, O Jnaneshwar."

• Preachings to Changdev -

She says: "Though he has no form my eyes saw him, his glory is fire in my mind that knows his secret inner form invented by the soul. What is beyond the mind has no boundary. In it our senses end. Mukta says: Words cannot hold him yet in him all words are." "Where darkness is gone I live, where I am happy. I am not troubled by coming and going, I am beyond all vision, above all spheres. His spirit lives in my soul. Mukta says: He is my heart's only home."

Legacy

• In many places in Maharashtra, devotees worship Muktabai. In north Maharashtra people worship Muktai and do varis (devotional visits) to Muktai's temple. Varkari consider saint Muktai 'Adishakti', Goddess. Varkaris sing abhangas written by Muktai. They call saint Muktabai - Muktai means mother Muktabai.
• A town's name is changed from Edlabad toMuktainagarto honor saint Muktabai. This town is administrative center of Muktainagar taluka so the taluka also became Muktainagar taluka.
• Saint Muktai's abhangas are included in Marathi text books ofBalbharatiin Maharashtra.
• Bhagwat Katha readers mention saint Muktai with great respect.

See also

• Bhakti movement
• Namdev
• Nivruttinath
• Dnyaneshwar
• Tukaram
• Eknath
• Sopan
• Chokhamela
• Sant Soyarabai
• Janabai
• Sant Mat
• Pandharpur Wari– the largest annual pilgrimage in Maharashtra that includes a ceremonialPalkhiof Tukaram and Jñāneśvar.