Just Do It!

The Samadhi of Sri Samartha Ramdas at Sajjangad produces an outpouring of fervour among devotees. One is humbled by the sheer simplicity of the rectangular stone monument. One gets down to it in the basement through a side alcove in the main temple. Although the Samadhi is solidly grounded, it is still flooded with natural light.

Is this because the Lord resides over His Servant, in eternity? Does the location and design of the Samadhi illustrate the saint’s well-known passion for retreating to natural caves and crags called ghal in the forests and mountain fastnesses of Maharashtra? Yet, for all that, Ramdas Swami was hardly a recluse. A great organiser and reformer, he literally revitalised Maharashtra with sheer force of personality and genius in extremely troubled and fractious times.

He was a sensitive poet who also famously enshrined doing (versus just being in contemplation ) as the main ingredient of world endeavour. “Kelyane hota ahey re,” he exhorts . “By doing alone are all works done. But they ought to be done first,” he adds, with a rhetorical twinkle (Pana tey adhicha kele pahije).

Similarly, his vision on the power of social movements seems particularly relevant today, “A movement grows in strength, but only for those who act,” he said. Saamarthya ahe chalvaliche, jo jo karil tayache. But the movement also needs to be ethics driven or divinely inspired. Parantu tethe adhishtan pahije bhagvantache. He who successfully handles worldly life understands true spirituality; shrink from the world but remain unlit.