Bhakta Ekanath

A discussion in the hall centred on the story of Kulasekhara Alwar, which had appeared in the Vision magazine. During a Harikatha, Kulasekhara identifying himself so completely with the situation of the story, felt it his duty as a worshipper of Rama to at once hasten to Lanka and release Sita. He ran to the sea and entered it to cross over to Lanka, when Rama appeared with Sita and Lakshmana and showered His grace on him. This led others in the hall to remark, “Some Maratha saint also did a similar thing. He leaped up to the roof, I think.” Thereupon Sri Bhagavan related the story.

EKANATH WAS WRITING the Ramayana, and when he came to the portion in which he was graphically describing that Hanuman jumped across the ocean to Lanka, he so identified himself with his hero Hanuman that unconsciously he leaped into the air and landed on the roof of his neighbour’s house. This neighbour had always had a poor opinion of Ekanath, taking him for a humbug and religious hypocrite. He heard a thud on his roof, and coming out to see what it was, discovered Ekanath lying down on the roof with a cadjan leaf in one hand and his iron stile in the other. The cadjan leaf had verses describing how Hanuman leapt across the sea. This incident proved to the neighbour what a genuine bhakta Ekanath was and he became his disciple.

After a pause Bhagavan also related: “God appeared in a dream to Ekanath and asked him to go and repair the tomb of Jnaneswar. When Ekanath went there accordingly, he found a contractor ready to do all the work and take payment at the end. The contractor opened a big account in which all expenses were entered, with the names of all the workmen and wages paid. Everything went on systematically. When the work of repairs was completed, the accounts were looked into and the contractor paid his dues. Then the contractor and his big account book totally disappeared. Then alone Ekanath came to know that God was his contractor and did the work. Such things have happened.”