Saint Goroba Kumbhar

Saint Goroba Kumbhar

A great Saint in the saint order of Dnyaneshwar who had the honour of deciding who was the greater spiritually among all the saints in the order

Birth: 1267

Saint Goroba Kumbhar (Potter) had spiritually achieved sainthood and was also a saint-poet. He was an intense devotee of the deity Vitthal at Pandharpur. Goroba was the senior most among the Saints. He was affectionately called Gorobakaka (kaka: uncle) He was from the Ter-Dhoki (also called Satyapuri or Terna) village near Osmanabad in Marathwada. Gorababakaka remained detached despite being a householder. He was an authority on spirituality and his words carried weight among the spiritualists. He was a contemporary of Saint Dnyaneshwar-Namdev and it is estimated that he was born in 1267.

He would constantly recite the name of his dear God (Vitthal); he would in fact forget everything else and be completely entranced with his God. The following event illustrates his devotion to Vitthal.

Once, his wife had gone to the village well to fetch water, requesting Goroba to look after their son. Goroba, in a spiritual trance, was treading mud to prepare the mixture for making pots. His child in the meanwhile toddled under his feet, of which he had no clue. On returning from the well, his wife found that their child was already dead. Gorobakaka became conscious when she cried out aloud in anguish. It was, alas, too late by then. Goroba regretted his oversight; he was completely shaken and overcome with guilt. But after a while, a miracle occurred, and through Vitthal’s mercy, the child became alive and returned to his wife. After this incident, his wife too became a Vitthal devotee.

It is difficult to believe in the authenticity of this event. There is no written biography of Gorobakaka found so far. Two or three such events have traversed generations by word of mouth. But we certainly can gather his limitless devotion and his authority on spirituality.

There was a meeting of a number of Saints at Goroba’s residence in Terdhoki where Nivruttinath, Dnyaneshwar Maharaj, Sopandev, Muktabai, Saint Namdev, Chokhamela, Visoba Khechar and others had assembled. There is another event told, of Saint Dnyaneshwar requesting Gorobakaka to test ‘who’s pot (head) was baked well’ by hitting on each ones head (i.e. to test what level of spirituality each had reached); Gorobakaka being a potter, thus the reference.

Goroba’s available poetry is too little. Around twenty of his Abhanga have been included in Sakalasant Gatha (story of all saints). Some of his songs can be found among the documentation available with the Vagdevta temple in Dhule. Goroba was a blessed saint who had actually experienced God.

Nirgunache Bheti Aalo Sugunasange. Tava zhalo prasangi gunateet

(I came to meet that with no attributes (God) with attributes (as human), that’s when I transcended)

This Abhanga illustrates his realisation of Advait (non-dual, self merging with God) philosophy. Mhane Gora Kumbhar (so says Gora Kumbhar) was the alias that he wrote under. It is seen through his poetry that he accepted the devotional path endowed with spiritual knowledge as defined by Saint Dnyaneshwar. He is an exemplary example of being spiritual even while executing worldly activities.

His Samadhi is in the Ter village in Osmanabad Zilla, near Latur.

Death: 1317