The Manifestation Day of Sri Swami Samarth
The day Sri Swami Samarth manifested is taken as Chaitra Shuddha Dwitiya, year 1072 as per Hindu calendar and the month March or April of year 1150 as per English Calendar.
Haribhau alias Swamisut the beloved disciple of Sri Swami Samarth had perceived by his divine sight that Sri Swami Samarth had manifested in the form of a Balayogi129 from a pillar on this day of Chaitra Shuddha Dwitiya, in a village Chhedikhedha near Hastinapur. On this day of Chaitra Shuddha Dwitiya Haribhau would come from Mumbai to Akkalkot and celebrate the anniversary festival of the birthday of Sri Swami Samarth in the presence of Sri Samarth. Based on this lunar day well known astrologer Nana Rekhi had prepared the horoscope of Sri Swami Samarth. Sri Swami Samarth had approved this and then blessed Nana Rekhi with initiation. When Shri Rekhi went to Akkalkot for the first time along with his wife to take Sri Swami Samarth’s ’Darshan’, his wife Sakhubai’s past life
got awakened and she was blessed by the ‘Darshan’ of Shree Swami Samarth in the form of Balayogi. That is why the anniversary festival of the birthday of Sri Swami Samarth is being celebrated on Chaitra Shuddha Dwitiya day. Similarly, Sri Narsinha Saraswati had taken birth at Karanja Nagar near Akola (Washim District, Maharashtra State) on Paush Shukla Dwitiya day. It becomes clear that Sri Swami Samarth himself is personally Sri Narsinha Saraswati himself. Hence there is a tradition of celebrating the manifestation day of Sri Swami Samarth on Paush Shuddha Dwitiya.
Kadali Van (Forest) To Akkalkot
Sri Narsinha Saraswati, the incarnation of Lord Dattatrey, disappeared in Patalganga131, during the year 1459 and then went to ‘Kadali van’ at the foot of Srishail Mountain. Sri Swami Samarth, during the year 1838, appeared at Mangalwedha132. During these four hundred years period, Sri Narsinha Saraswati performed numerous known and unknown miracles. After coming out from Kadali van110 he went to a desolate forest on the northern side of Bhagirathi133 River and sat there completely absorbed in devout meditation. Nobody knew as to how much time passed like this. His body was fully covered by a growing anthill. One day a woodcutter came there. He used his axe to cut the tree but that axe hit the anthill fell on Sriguru’s thigh. Blood started oozing. This disturbed the meditative
trance of Sriguru and he stood up. The woodcutter became very nervous but Sriguru manifested in the form Sri Swami Samarth134. The mark of the axe wound did remain on the thigh of Sri Swami Samarth. From the forest on the northern side of Bhagirathi River Sri Swami Samarth went to Gangotri, a holy place in Uttar Pradesh. Then he came to Devalgram. There he installed his ‘Padukas’ and left the place. From there, he came to Rajur in Marathawada, Maharashtra. At Rajur Sri Swami Samarth installed a Muth90. The then Muslim King had given an estate as a gift to the Muth. Later, Sri Swami Samarth left Rajur, leaving behind everything there and went to the holy places Udupi in Karnataka and Pandharpur in Maharashtra. From there he came to Mangalvedha again in Maharashtra and appeared in the public during the year 1838. During this period he became popularly known as ‘Chanchal Bharati’. In Mangalvedha people called him ‘Digambar Swami’. Sri Swami Samarth thus spent some time at Mangalvedha, Mohol, Solapur, Ganagapur all in Maharashtra and then during the year 1855 came to Akkalkot.
A Chinese Couple
When Sri Swami Samarth manifested in Himalayan Region, during the same time a Chinese couple had come there in search of herbal medicines. They saw the ajanubahu135 personality of Sri Swami Samarth. However, ignoring Sri Swami the couple remained busy in their own activities. Due to the beautiful natural surroundings they couple became possessed by lust and started flirting with each other without any regard to the presence of Shree Swami Samarth. Watching this strong sexually desirous activity of the couple, Sri Swami Samarth became very angry and taught them a lesson. Due to Sri Swami Samarth’s displeasure over this indecent behaviour, the Chinese man got transformed to a woman and the Chinese woman into a man. Seeing this sudden transformation the couple got humiliated and they panicked. They realised that this transformation had taken place due to the displeasure of the ascetic who was present there. They then prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami and prayed for forgiveness. Then Sri Swami explained the couple regarding the ill effects of lustful desires and advised them to conquer them instead. Later on, Sri Swami blessed the couple with kind grace, which transformed both to their original forms. Finally, the Chinese couple returned happily to their country.
Shelter to a Deer
In the Himalayan region another miracle took place. Sri Swami Samarth Maharaj was sitting under a tree, fully absorbed in atmanand136. Near and around him some
deer’s were camping and jumping joyously. In the meantime, some hunters came there to kill them. Seeing those hunters the deer became aware of the danger to their lives and out of fear came to Sri Swami Samarth for shelter. Sri Swami Samarth fondled these deer’s seeking shelter under him with great love. In the meantime the hunters arrived. The hunters fired guns in the air to make these deer’s panicky. However, the deer’s did not panic since they had got the assurance of protection from Sri Swami. The hunters became angry and started abusing Sri Swami. They even fired guns at Sri Swami. Nevertheless, there was no effect on Sri Swami. Then Sri Swami picked up two small stones and threw the same at the hunters. The hunters were petrified and stood there like motionless statues. The hunters then realised their mistakes. They repented and prayed to Sri Swami for forgiveness. Sri Swami then showered his kind grace on the hunters and advised them to maintain love towards animals. Out of those deer’s, there was a male, a female and their two young ones. Sri Swami awakened the past life of this deer couple and reminded them “Oh! You were the Brahmin couple of Ganagapur in your past life. This female deer was your virtuous woman in the past life. You had a prosperous life with a house. Since you had afflicted pain to saints, you got this animal life. Since here was still some merit in your balance, you got my Darshan in this life”. Then the deer couple remembered their past life. They prayed for the forgiveness and prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami. Then Sri Swami blessed them with kind grace and said “At the proper time, you will take birth as human beings. You will also get my ‘Darshan’ in the southern place”.
Boon Granted To Tigers
While dwelling in Himalayan region, sitting in a cave Sri Swami Samarth would hold philosophical discussions with ascetics. At that time two tigers sitting at the
entrance of the cave were keenly listening to the discussions. Listening to the speech of Sri Swami Samarth Maharaj would charm all the ascetics present there. By then, the kind glance of Sri Swami fell on the two tigers sitting at the entrance and listening. He spoke to the tigers “Scholars, why are you sitting at the entrance? You ride on an elephant and go on obtaining certificates of victory”. To this the tigers replied, “Maharaj, by your kind ‘Darshan’ we have been blessed. Kindly be merciful and tell us as to why we got this life of tigers? ”. Then Sri Swami spoke “In your past life, you amassed knowledge by learning, but you also became very arrogant and harassed saints and Brahmins alike to such an extent that you even managed to get victory letters by defeating them. Your arrogance has given you this life of a Tiger”. Then both lay down on the ground and began to plead. Then Sri Swami said, “In this tiger’s life, there is no movement. You will be born as Brahmins in your next life and then by gaining knowledge and rendering devotional service you can get liberated”.
Compassion towards Brahmin Lepers
In the holy place called Haridwar in Uttar Pradesh, there were two Brahmins. They were very strong. They became highly intoxicated with arrogance due to their strength. They would find pleasure in committing evil deeds like killing people after robbing them, and slandering saintly people. None was able to stop them from evil activities. Eventually due to these evil activities they started suffering from Leprosy. Their fingers and feet started rotting. Their families abandoned them. They started begging on the street repenting their evil acts.
But they still had a bit of good merit left from their past life, due to which they
got an opportunity of getting Sri Swami Samarth’s ‘Darshan’. They both surrendered to Sri Swami and begged for pardon for their evil deeds. It was due to their past life’s merit Sri Swami showered his kind grace on them. He touched their bodies by his lotus feet, which brought down the pain they suffered. Then Sri Swami told them “Now you can go, abandon your arrogance, egotism, self-conceit and spend your life in the constant repetition of my name. Then you will regain your happiness”. By the kind blessings of Sri Swami, the Brahmins regained good health and happiness.
Wicked Brahmin Slaughtering Cow
When Sri Swami Samarth was in Haridwar, an arrogant Brahmin came there and
started asking Sri Swami “Who are you? Which place do you hail from? What is your good name? Where is your ashram137? ”. Observing the evil-mindedness of the Brahmin Sri Swami spoke “First, let me know your acquaintance. In the past life you were a hunter. You had slaughtered a number of animals and fed yourself. You committed sins like drinking spirituous liquor, outrage on ladies. Since you had slayed the princess of Hastinapur, the soldiers of the king had cut your nose and broke your head. Later on ferocious animals swallowed your body-flesh. Since some good merit from past life was still in your favour, you got this life of a Brahmin. But due to wickedness you have slaughtered a cow yesterday night”. Since all his sinful acts were exposed the Brahmin became nervous and started trembling. He prayed to Sri Swami for forgiveness. Then Sri Swami went to the Brahmin’s house where a cow was lying dead. The Brahmin prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami and started crying. Sri Swami spoke “If you are really repenting for this act, then sprinkle this holy water available with me and awake that cow”. As per the orders of Sri Swami the Brahmin awakened the dead cow. Out of repentance there was a complete change in the Brahmin and renouncing everything he started worshipping Sri Swami with full devotion.
The Chief of Narayan Teerth
While journeying through different places Sri Swami Samarth reached Kutch Area (Gujarath). There is a temple ‘Trivikram’ and near the temple is Narayan Teerth (Narayan Lake). The chief of the temple would not allow pilgrims to take a bath in the Lake without paying. Sri Swami Samarth came there to a take bath, but the disciples of the chief stopped him. Sri Swami Samarth mysteriously disappeared from the scene and instead was seen seated on the surface of the Lake. Everyone present at the scene were mystified. When the chief learned about this miracle, he came running and prayed to Sri Swami for forgiveness. Walking on water, Sri Swami came to the bank of the lake. The chief prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami. Then he worshipped Sri Swami in the Shodshopchar66 way with full devotion and then fed all the Brahmins present with sweet dishes to their full satisfaction.
Serpent Birth Due To Passion
A Brahmin took Sri Swami to his house. He offered Sri Swami meals. Sri Swami asked him “Where are your parents?”. The Brahmin said that his parents have already left for the other world. Then Sri Swami said, “Look, over there your father is swinging the cradle, to put your baby to sleep”. When everyone looked over they saw a serpent swinging the cradle. The Brahmin took a stick and went to kill the serpent. However, Sri Swami stopped him from doing so. Then Sri Swami took the serpent in his hands and spoke to the serpent “Is your passion still not fully satisfied? Look, your son was about to kill you”. Then, to everyone’s surprise, the serpent started speaking “Maharaj, I don’t have any passion left. Kindly bless me with deliverance from this life”. Then Sri Swami spoke “Go and stay in the lake. Later on, you will take birth in the family of an ascetic”. The serpent happily went away. All the people present were amazed.
Darshan Of Lord Krishna To The Blind Saint Soordas
Sri Swami Samarth came to Dwaraka, the holy place in Gujarath. At Dwaraka, there was a blind Saint named Soordas. He was very anxious to get ‘Darshan’ of Lord Krishna. Sri Swami Samarth went to his hermitage and called out Soordas and said “Soordas, whomever you are calling with all devotion, I am that same person standing in front of you right now”. Sri Swami touched the blind eyes of Soordas and he regained eyesight! Soordas saw standing before him, the dark blue coloured, and charming figure of Lord Krishna. He was fully satisfied. Out of awareness, he looked at the figure again and was surprised to find Sri Swami Samarth himself standing there, in place of Lord Krishna. He prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami, and prayed “I was blind by birth. By your kind blessings, I got this divine vision. Now kindly bless me with deliverance from this cycle of birth and death”. Then Sri Swami Samarth blessed him with a boon to be a theologian.
A Crippled Ascetic Regains Legs
Sri Swami Samarth, after going to Girnar Mountain in Gujarath, came to Hanumandhari. There was a crippled ascetic at Hanumandhari. After hearing about the great fame of Sri Swami he desired for his ‘Darshan’. Being crippled, he was unable to go to Sri Swami; so mentally he started praying with all earnestness. Being omniscient Sri Swami heard the mental prayers of that crippled ascetic and just like a cow goes running to its calf to render help, Sri Swami too came to the crippled person. Then Sri Swami spoke to him “You crippled person, close your eyes, do not look back and come to me”. Acting as per Sri Swamiji’s orders, the crippled ascetic tried to take a step ahead and what a miracle! He regained his legs and started walking slowly and steadily and finally reached near Sri Swami. He prostrated at the lotus feet of Sri Swami. After taking the blessings of Sri Swami the ascetic went on pilgrimage.
A Girl Transformed into a Boy
There is a village Ambejogai in Marathawada, Maharashtra. Sri Swami being on constant travel reached Ambejogai and started staying on a nearby hill. A peasant girl would always take her animals to the hill to graze. Sri Swami came to know her. He would play with her. The girl’s father, being very greedy to earn money, forced her to wear a boy’s dress and then sold her as a boy to a rich man, who adopted her as his son. Later on, the rich man selected a girl to marry his adopted son. He wanted to celebrate the marriage ceremony with great pomp. On the wedding day women from the girl’s side came to their house to apply Mehandi138 to the boy as per the prevailing custom. However, they started suspecting that the concerned bridegroom was not a boy but instead a girl. This created a big confusion in the rich man’s house. When the rich man came to know this truth, he became extremely unhappy and he complained to the king stating that a peasant had cheated him by giving a girl instead of a boy. The king gave his orders to kill the girl-adopted boy. Soldiers caught hold of her and took her to the hill. The girl was crying and writhing in pain. In that state of severe agony she prayed to Sri Swami Samarth with full devotion and earnestness. Sri Swami heard her earnest prayers and came running for her rescue. He became very angry on those soldiers and ordered them to call the king and the rich man. When the king and the rich man arrived there, Sri Swami spoke to them “Look
there! Is that a girl or a boy? ”. Everyone looked and to their great surprise saw a boy standing in place of the girl. Then Sri Swami spoke “Now arrange for his marriage”. So saying Sri Swami suddenly vanished from sight. Everyone present were highly astonished to see this miracle. They started acclaiming Sri Swami Samarth with continuous shouts of victory and returned home.
A Devil at Rameshwar
Sri Swami, while being on a constant travel, reached Rameshwar139 and sat under a tree there. A Brahmin who lived nearby strongly felt that the person sitting under the tree possibly might be a man of incarnation. Therefore he brought some Naivedya140 for Sri Swami, who ate part of the offerings. The Brahmin repeated these offerings daily. One day when the Brahmin prayed to Sri Swami to bless him with a son, Sri Swami said, “A son will be born and that son will depart. Now go away”. Then Sri Swami left the place. However, the Brahmin continued to bring and place food offerings for Sri Swami under the tree, daily without exception. His wife gave birth to a son, within a short time. Whatever food offerings, the Brahmin would keep under the tree, a devil would eat it. The Brahmin was surprised to see that in the absence of Sri Swami, someone else eats the offering. One day when the Brahmin had been to the temple of Lord
Rameshwar for ‘Darshan’, there he was surprised to see Sri Swami Samarth seated and glaring with splendour in place of Lord and instead of Rameshwar. Experiencing this miracle, the Brahmin started asking his son to come inside the temple and take Sri Swami Samarth’s ‘Darshan’. Nevertheless, his son became very much afraid of taking ‘Darshan’. When the Brahmin caught hold of his son and forcibly brought him to the temple, his son started screaming loudly and died right there in front of Sri Swami. In place of his son, the Brahmin saw a dreadful body lying there. The Brahmin and his wife started crying and prayed to Sri Swami “Maharaj, this son was born by your blessings, then how did he die now? ”. Sri Swami spoke “I had told you in advance, that a son will be born and depart from you. Whatever food offerings you were placing under the tree, this devil would eat. The same devil was born to you as a son. I have liberated him from this devil’s life. Now cremate this devil’s body. Apply this Bhasm88 to the devil’s body. His body will diminish in size”. After the cremation of the devil’s body, the Brahmin came to Sri Swami and started praying, “Maharaj, I have become old now. I am childless. Please bless me with a son”. Then Sri Swami Samarth blessed him and said, “Now go home. You will get a son”. After this blessing, the wife of the Brahmin gave birth to a son. The couple became very happy and they started devotional service to Sri Swami till the end.
Alavani Buva Gets ‘Darshan’ of Sri Swami Samarth At Puri
Alavani Buva of Baroda in Gujarath had gone with some people to Jagannath Puri, a holy place in Orissa. There, all these people fell sick because of fever. They were rendered immobile due to weakness. They were even unable to bring food from the market. Unexpectedly Sri Swami Samarth came and stood before Alavani Buva. Seeing the splendour and Divinity of Shree Swami Samarth, Alavani Buva offered his obeisance. Then offering his praises to Sri Swami, he asked, “Maharaj, where do you live? ”. Maharaj replied, “All the places belong to me”. So saying, Sri Swami vanished from that place. Alavani Buva and his companions were amazed at this experience. Later, they saw sumptuous food served on leaf-plates placed for them. They all enjoyed the sumptuous food. They resumed their journey as soon as their health recovered. Finally they all reached Akkalkot in Solapur, Maharashtra. After taking ‘Darshan’ of Sri Swami Samarth, they all remembered that, the great man, who helped them with sumptuous food at Jagannath Puri, was none other than Sri Swami Samarth himself.
Arrival in Akkalkot
In this manner, after departing from Kadalivan110, Sri Swami spent long period of time deep meditation. Later he went on a pilgrimage and performed numerous
miracles and then sometime during the year 1838, he manifested himself at Mangalvedha, Solapur in Maharashtra. Sri Swami remained at Mangalvedha, for about twelve years, but stayed away from the public and in a desolate place. In this village there was a pastureland of a person by name Patvardhan, where Sri Swami normally would stay. Whenever he entered the village he would go and sit in a dirty place. Seeing this, some would call him Digambar-bua141 and some others would name him Veda-bua142. He would perform a number of miracles, just for pleasure, which made people offer their devotion towards Him. One day all of a sudden, he left Mangalvedha and went to a nearby village, Mohol. After passing sometime in Mohol, during the year 1854-55, he came to Solapur. At Solapur there was a gentleman by name Chintopant Appa Tol who became a devotee of Sri Swami. Chintopant was a Mamlatdar128 of the British Regime and he was a pensioner. He was appointed in Akkalkot State.
Only due to the invitation of Tol Sri Swami Samarth came to Akkalkot during the year 1856 and later on remained there till he took Mahasamadhi143. This is the reason he came to be known as Sri Akkalkot Swami or Akkalkotniwasi Sri Swami Samarth.
In Mangalvedha Sri Swami Samarth stayed for quite a long period but he had maintained less relations with the public. Therefore only a few miracles were performed there. In Mohol and Solapur too he stayed for a little period. There also, very few miracles were performed. Then Sri Swami Samarth stayed for quite a long period in Akkalkot and he had transformed that land in to land of his miracles and in to a holy place of pilgrimage.
Nobody knows accurately about the numerous miracles performed by Sri Swami in Akkalkot. Only those miracles, which have been told, written, and heard are available for the benefit of the devotees. Sri Swami got rid of the sufferings of afflicted people and uplifted poor people from poverty. People who had desire for knowledge were given proper advice. He had one important aim, to liberate people from suffering due to their ill fate, give them all happiness, and then lead them towards life’s highest objective of divine truth. The very remembrance of the miracles of Sri Swami leads a man towards devotional life.
