Sant Gora Kumar has earned a reputed place in the history of Indian Saints. He was a potter and made toys and sold them to earn livelihood. He always kept thinking about Vitthal. He completed his duties by heart and loved Pandurang so much. Gora also continued singing prayers while working and usually loses the hold of time while chanting and enters in another world through his singing. His love for god was unique. The toys made by him were usually godly statues like Rama, Krishna and Rukmani.

In fact, when he went to the market to sell the toys he accepted random price given by the buyers. He always made only those toys that reminded him about God. Sant Gora Kumar had a little family consisting of his wife Tulsi Bai and son Hari.

Death of Gora Kumar’s Son

One day when his wife was trying to feed their son Hari, he refused to take food because it was dry. She went inside to take some ghee for her son. At that moment, Gora Kumar was there and making toys. Suddenly due to bad weather, the sky was covered with black clouds. Hari noticed one crow flying and told his father about it. When Gora saw that crow he started singing over it and soon went into different state.  

Gora was saying “Vithal Vithal” and moving his hands in the pit in dancing form. His son Hari came to him as he was scared of the thundering but he didn’t care for his son. Instead, he continued singing and dancing and putting the clay while his son was in the pit. Gora Kumar was continuously stamping and pounding, which eventually caused the death of his son.

Leaving Tulsi Bai

When Tulsi Bai wife of Gora found that her son had died next to Gora and he is still lost in chanting and dancing, she asked him about their son. Gora returned to normal condition and searched for Hari. He found a little leg stuck in the pit and took away his kid from the pit only to find Hari died. This shocked Tusli Bai and she blamed Gora for their son’s death. However, Gora said it was the will of Vitthal and started singing Vitthal songs again. This made Tulsi Bai quite angry and she went to destroy all idols of god. When Gora tried to strop her, she asked him to give her a promise that he would never touch her. He accepted her words and afterwards never touched her.

Second Marriage of Gora Kumar

After the passage of one year of their son’s death, Tulsi Bai wanted to have another child but due to her promise, Gora couldn’t touch her. So, she decided to get him married to her younger sister Shanthu Bai. After accomplishment of marriage customs, Shanthu’s father asked Gora to keep his second wife in the same way as his first wife since the father was not familiar with the Gora’s promise. So, Gora had to accept the promise and he also never touched his second wife.

Loss of House and Gain of Children

One day, Gora’s wives touched his hand and broke his promise. He punished himself and cut down his hands so he wasn’t able to work any more. In this case, his wives started working by making toys and selling them. But due to big loans from the people, they lost their house that was bought by Rangan, a young potter. The young boy returned the house back to Gora and called them his parents. He explained the reason to call them as his parents because he didn’t want them to leave their house and was very much influenced by Gora’s nature. The young boy and his wife also stayed with them and treated them as their parents and served them.

Realization of Vitthal

It was actually Lord Vitthal and Rukmani who stayed in Gora’s house as their children. They had taken the avatar of a young boy and his wife. Knowing this, one of the popular saints Namdev started searching for Vitthal throughout the villages while chanting for him. When the group of Namdev’s sadhus reached Gora’s village, he also took part in the preparations made by his village people for the sadhus because Gora and Namdev were familiar with each other.

When Namdev met with Gora, he realized that Vithoba was actually with Gora. When Namdev asked him about Rangan, Gora thought he is asking about the person who lives in his home, so he told about him. Namdev ran to his house but till then Vitthal and Rukmani already had left the space. Namdev told Gora that they were actually Vitthal and Rukmani who came to his home and lived as their children.

Getting Hands and Hari Back

Realizing that God came to his home but he couldn’t recognize them, Gora became sad and went to Vitthal and Rukmnai temple in Pandheri to see Vitthal. When Namdev tried to give him Prasad here, Gora took back his hands. Seeing that Tulsi Bai requested Vitthal to give her son Hari back, Vitthal also gave their son back to them. So, Gora and his wife returned gladly to their home.