Muktabai

Nivruttinath, Dnyandev, and Sopandev According to Nath tradition Muktabai was the last of the four children of Vitthal Govind Kulkarni and Rukmini, a pious couple from Apegaon near Paithan on the banks of the river Godavari.

In Alandi, about 30 km from Pune, Sidhopant, a local Yajurveda Brahmin, was very much impressed with him and Vitthal married his daughter Rukmini.

After some time, getting permission from Rukmini, Vitthal went to Kashi (Varanasi), where he met Ramananda Swami and requested to be initiated into sannyas, lying about his marriage.

It is believed that later Vitthal and Rukmini ended their lives by jumping into the waters at Prayag which is the confluence of three rivers, the Ganges, Yamuna, and the now extinct Saraswati, hoping that their children would be accepted into the society after their death.

Earlier the couple set out on a pilgrimage with their children to Tryambakeshwar, near Nashik, where their elder son Nivrutti (at the age of 10) was initiated into the Nath tradition by Gahininath.

Their argument with the Brahmins earned the children fame and respect due to their righteousness, virtue, intelligence, knowledge and politeness.

This universe is a single piece of cloth woven with the one thread of Brahman, so please open the door, O Jnaneshwar."

The siblings Muktabai, Sopan, Dnyaneshwar and Nivrutinath seated on the flying wall greet Changdev seated on a tiger. In the centre, Changdev bows to Dnyaneshwar.