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Jnanadeva and the Warkari Movement/Prof. Dr. Fred Dallmayr
Note 4
Pundalik as a young man led a very dissolute and self-indulgent life, and his behaviour
showed no concern and in effect great disrespect, for both his parent. and other relatives. Later on, however, his heart was turned around and he developed into a very caring son
always eager to help his aging and ailing parents. At this point in his life, a great deity – the god Vithoba – came to visit Pandharpur and on this occasion also Pundalik's home. As it
happened, Pundalik at that moment was busily caring for his father, massaging his feet; noticing the approach of the deity, he did not interrupt his action but only paused long
enough to throw a brick (now the heart of the main temple in Pandharpur) – teaching us that love of God is not separate from love of family, friends, and fellow-beings. In fact, to love
God means precisely to love fellow-beings (beginning with those close to us).
For some of the details of the story see Philip C. Engblom, "Introduction" in D. B. Mokashi,
Palkhi: An Indian Pilgrimage, trans. P. C. Engblom (Albany, N. Y,: SUNY Press, 1987), pp. 12-14. In Engblom's words (p. 13), Pundalik "not only brought Vitthal [Vithoba] to stay at
the temple and thereby established the sacred complex surrounding him; he also provided, by his example, the archetype of devotion for all the subsequent long lineage of Warkari
saints and established the basis for the Warkari devotion to the saints."
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