When the name of Shri Swami Samarth is mentioned the names of Lord Dattatreya and Shrimad Narasimha Saraswathi have to be talked about. While both were incarnations of Lord Dattatreya, Narasimha Saraswathi was reborn as Swami Samarth. But it was not rebirth that we are familiar with. Here the rebirth was as a full blown human being, in fact an aged. Therefore the birth of Shri Swami Samarth itself broke all rules and his life thereafter was a series of miracles. He managed to gather a large following and after a period of time his life was well documented.
Places Of Travel
Swami Samarth himself said that he came from the Kardali forests. Sometimes he called himself a Shukla Yajurvedi kanva shakha Brahmin. He travelled all over India. He had also travelled to China, Tibet and Nepal. He was seen in Kashi, Puri, Kathiawad, Ramaeshwaram, Girnar, Haridwar. At times when travelling by foot or cart were the ways to move around, it is really unbelievable that he reached so many places. One has to accept that he might have resorted to astral travel. For devotees of the lord, these siddhis or powers were child’s play. The Hindu saints always warned the devotees not to get stuck with the powers one attains through meditation. They always encouraged them to move forward to reach the final destination of Self realisation.
Physical Stature
Shri Swami Samarth settled in Akkalkot but before that he stayed for considerable period of time in Mangalvedha in Solapur and Ganagapura in Karnataka. The physical appearance of Shri Swami Samarth is well documented. Kodak company managed to take a photo of the Swami and this has been preserved for posterity. He appeared amongst the people at an advanced age, yet his skin had no wrinkles. He was very tall and had long arms. This itself is an indication of a saint amongst the Hindus. It is said saints and sages had long arms and that it would extend below the knees when they stood straight.
Swami Samarth had broad shoulders and big belly. The navel too was very big and deep. He had long and thin ears. It is said that his ear lobes were so thin that it would shake at the slightest movement of his body. His feet were long. He was fain with a pinkish skin. He was indeed a personality one would not miss even in a crowd. In spite of his age he had a set of good teeth. His only piece of dressing was his koupina or the loin cloth.
Shri Swami Samarth put a big tilak on his forehead and wore a rosary of tulasi around his neck. He also wore crystals and has large gem earrings. Rudraksha is the rosary generally worn by sages and saints but Shri Swami wore tulasi and crystals. The physical appearance of a saint does not really matter as what he says is more important. But in the case of Shri Swami Samarth both his form and words were extraordinary that people were spell- bound in his presence.
