Narsinh Mehta’s devotion flowed in the form of songs. One such song is ‘Vaishanavo Jan To’ which is sung and loved by all Indians. It was one of the favourite songs of Mahatma Gandhi.
Profile
Narsinh Mehta was born in Talaja a village in Gujarat in early 15th century.The family moved to Junagadh shortly. His parents died when he was five and he was looked after by his grandmother Jayakunvar. He had a brother who was seventeen years older than him. Narsinh Mehta did not speak till about eight years. It is believed that an ascetic, who predicted that he, would become a great bhakta, gave an herb and asked him chant Radhe Krishna which he did. He was admitted into a Sanskrit school but his love was to sing bhajans and after school he would be found with the groups singing bhajans. Fearing he would become a sadhu his grandmother married him off to young girl Manek. They had a boy andgirl. The fact that there were more mouths to feed and that Narsinh Mehta was not doing anything to bring in money to the house, irritated his sister-in-law. She tauntedNarsinh Mehta but his grandmother came to his protection. She even married his daughter off. After the grandmother’s death the taunts became unbearable and Narsinh Mehta left home and reached a dilapidated Shiva temple. He stayed there for days, meditating, without food and water. The story goes that Lord Shiva appeared before him and granted him the vision of Krishna’s Rasa Leela which was his divine dance with the gopis. He then returned to his house and fell at his sister-in-law’s feet and thanked her for taunting him. It was the taunts that culminated in his divine vision. From then on his life was full of devotion and the Lord would take care of his needs. The people of his caste in Junagadh did not approve his mingling with the lower caste. They troubled him so much but every time the Lord came to his help.Narsinh Mehta then moved to Mangrol and died in that place at the age of 79.
Philosophy Propounded
Narsinh Mehta lived a life completely devoted to the Lord but he knew the essence of human life was to realise the Atma. He has made it clear in one of his poems. A couple of lines go like this
Jyãn lagi ãtmattatva chinyo nahi,
tyãn lagi sãdhanã sarva juthi…
This means“Unless one realises the atma, all endeavours will be futile…”
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Narsinh Mehta wrote nearly 740 devotional songs, bhajans, which are popular even today. His works have enriched the literature of the Bhakthi movement that caught on in the medieval India. In fact he is considered as the Adikavi (first poet) of Guajarati literature.
