Fulfilling vow made by mother

 "Phulat phool jaaiche, jagat prem aaiche" ("Among flowers, the jasmine; in the world, a mother's love") — this saying used to be written on the blackboards and walls of many schools. A mother's love is one of the most wondrous things in the world. A mother carries her child in her womb for nine months. She goes through so much physical and emotional pain for it. It is impossible to describe. That is why a mother's love is selfless, asking for nothing in return. A child is, quite literally, a part of her own life. That is why a mother is regarded as the embodiment of God.

"Prem deNyaasaathi aai nirmili, aai he devaache roop

Sarvaanthaayi dev dhaavel kasa, devaala kaame hi khoop"

("God created the mother to give love; a mother is the form of God. How can God run to be everywhere? He has so much work to do.")

This is a song sung by the late Lata Mangeshkar.

A mother who loves her child with all her heart is happy when the child is happy, and heartbroken when the child suffers. If her child is in trouble, she is ready to do whatever it takes to fix it. Among the many kinds of trouble, one is illness. When different treatments are tried and the illness doesn't go away, people who believe in God make a vow (*navas*) to their deity, and fulfil it once the illness is over. Here are two incidents from the lives of two well-known people, both about fulfilling a vow made by their mothers.

(Photograph of Narhar Kurundkar, courtesy the internet)

Narhar Kurundkar, who lived fifty years, from 1932 to 1982, was one of the most important thinkers of twentieth-century Maharashtra. Right from childhood, he thought in a rational, logical way. He answered questions on the basis of reason. He himself was an atheist, so he often got into arguments with his relatives over this. He had many such arguments while studying in Hyderabad, where he stayed with his maternal uncle, Na. Go. Nandapurkar. Once, his uncle even threw him out of the house for an hour, though he let him back in later. But Kurundkar, this rational atheist, had a mother, Gangabai, who was deeply religious. She believed in rituals, worship and fasting vows (*vratavaikalye*), and followed them faithfully. After finishing his education, Narhar Kurundkar came to Nanded. He became a professor at People's College of the Nanded Education Society, and later its principal as well.

Around this time, a Gandhian thinker went on a hunger strike for social reform, and Narhar Kurundkar took part in it. Soon after, he fell ill. The illness turned serious. Various treatments were tried, but there was no improvement. At that point, his mother Gangabai made a vow to Nrusimha, the deity of Pokharni, their native village: "Let my Narhar get well. I'll perform your *abhishek* with his own hands." A few days after she made this vow, Narhar Kurundkar recovered. Now his mother began pestering him to fulfil it. Kurundkar was in a real bind, because he didn't believe in the existence of God. Rituals and vows were, for him, even further out of the question. But in the end, he had to go to the village and perform the *abhishek*, as his mother wished. He was heavily criticised for it. But for the sake of his mother's peace of mind, Narhar Kurundkar bent his principles.

(Photograph of Jagannath Joshi, courtesy the internet)

The second example is that of Jagannath Joshi, who lived from 1920 to 1991. Born in Naragund in Karnataka, Jagannath Joshi was educated in Pune, at Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya and S.P. College. After coming in contact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he became an RSS volunteer. When the Jana Sangh party was founded in 1952, he began working for it. India became independent in 1947, but Goa remained under Portuguese rule even after that. The Goa Liberation Movement was fought against this. Jagannath Joshi took part in this movement and joined the satyagraha. He was arrested and thrown into jail, and he had to endure police brutality. Goa became free in 1961. But he refused the benefits offered to him as a freedom fighter. After that, he was elected as a Jana Sangh MP twice, in 1967 and 1971. He attacked the government in powerful speeches. After 1976, he was elected as a Rajya Sabha MP.

Jagannath Joshi had a deep, unwavering love for his mother, Kamalabai. To get him released from prison, his mother had made a vow to the powerful deity of Naragund — to perform the *deed kaathi cha dandavat*. (A person performing the *deed kaathi cha dandavat* prostrates fully on the ground, stretches out  arm and makes a mark the spot with the hand.  Then gets up, stands on that mark, prostrate again, stretch out the arm and makes a mark the ground again. Repeating this, person has to complete a circumambulation of the temple.) After Jagannath Joshi was released from jail, he learned about the vow his mother had made. In the heat of summer, he completed the circumambulation with the *deed kaathi cha dandavat*. It was extremely painful. As he went around bare-bodied, his mother poured water over him. She was desperate to ease the burning heat on her son's body. All along, as her son prostrated, she kept pouring water over him. A devout mother, and a son who put his body through such hardship to fulfil her vow — what an extraordinary pair.

One of these two men was an atheist and the other a believer. But what both of them did to fulfil the vows made by their mothers is extraordinary. It stays with you.

Sudhir Gade, Pune

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(AI Translation)