By Lokanath Swami
A seventeenth-century Krishna devotee spread the chanting of the holy names in western India.
Words are the only jewels I possess
Words are the only clothes I wear
Words are the only food that sustains my life
Words are the only wealth I distribute among people
Says Tuka, witness the Word, He is God
I worship Him with my words
- Sri Tukarama
Sri Tukarama (CE 1609-1650) was a saint-poet of towering stature, and his pervasive influence in Marathi language, culture, literature, and spirituality is celebrated in thousands of abhangas (devotional poems) throughout the west Indian state of Maharashtra. His followers say that his devotional accomplishments are so colossal that to describe them, many future generations of translators and commentators will have their pens occupied for centuries to come. In a sense, Tukarama is a saint-poet who belongs more to the future than to a specific historically bound past.
Birth and Ancestry
Sri Tukarama was a distinguished devotee of Lord Vitthala (or Vithoba), the Krishna deity worshiped in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. Born in Dehu, a lively village on the banks of the holy river Indrayani, Saint Tukarama was the son of two devotees of Lord Vitthala: Bolhoba and his wife, Kanakai. Dehu, near Pune, is referred to as jagrut sthan, "an abode of live divinity." For centuries the devoted residents of Maharashtra have sung, "Praise be to the village of Dehu, and praise be to Pandharpur, for Lord Vithoba Himself dwells there."
Five thousand years before Saint Tukarama was born, when Krishna was the ruler of Dwarka, a pure devotee named Sri Pundalika lived in Pandharpur. During that time, Lord Krishna's queen Rukminidevi left her palace in Dwarka, as she was upset with Lord Dvarakadhisha (Krishna). She traveled to Pandharpur Forest, and Lord Dvarakadhisha followed her there, both to find her and to see His devotee Pundalika.
On the scenic banks of the Chandrabhaga River, near ISKCON Pandharpur, Pundalika, who was serving his Vaishnava parents, saw the charming Lord Dvarakadhisha resting His lotus hands on His slender waist. Sri Pundalika asked the Lord to wait while he finished his duties. He then offered the Lord a brick to stand on. Thus, Lord Dvarakadhisha became known in Pandharpur as Lord Vitthala, "the Lord who stands on a brick." The Lord waited by the door for His devotee, with His lotus hands on His eternally curvy hips. Still today, Lord Vitthala stands like this in the Pandharpur temple, waiting for us to come back to Him.
For centuries, millions of devotees have worshiped Lord Vitthala within the ancient Vitthala Mandir in Pandharpur. Rakhumai, as Srimati Rukminidevi is known here, stands faithfully beside Him on her own altar. Garuda, the Lord's dedicated bird-carrier, stands peacefully with folded hands in front of Lord Vitthala. At the entrance of the temple sits Sri Vighnaraja, or Ganesha.
During the time of Saint Tukarama, Muslims reigned in southern India and were constantly at war with each other. The rulers enjoyed the privileges of stolen royalty while their warriors plundered villages.
In spite of the difficult political situation, Sri Tukarama's childhood was spent in comfort and luxury. Later his life changed from material prosperity to abject poverty. With great courage, resilience, and unshakable faith in Lord Vitthala, Sri Tukarama faced the death of his parents, wife, and son. After the devastating sorrow of losing his family, he had to endure even further grueling pangs of material miseries. Still, he remained fixed at the lotus feet of his best friend and almighty protector, Lord Vitthala.
Soon after Sri Tukarama's parents died, severe drought and famine struck his village. He had to struggle to make ends meet. It was during this calamity that his wife and son died from starvation. These relentless hardships convinced Tukarama of the temporary nature of earthly pursuits. In a mood of quiet prayer, he climbed Bhamgiri Mountain to seek solace from the Lord.
Although attacked by snakes and wild animals, he was determined to stay there until he had found the eternal truth. After fifteen days of seclusion, fervent prayer, and calls for his Lord's attention, Sri Tukarama received Lord Vitthala's audience. Pleased by Tukarama's bhakti, Lord Vitthala bestowed upon him the eternal truth and love of Godhead.
Saint Tukarama has written, "I lived on Bhamgiri Mountain and concentrated all my faculties on Him. Snakes, scorpions, and tigers attacked me; there was trouble everywhere. It was on the fifteenth day that revelation came: I met Vithoba. I was then inspired to versify, and in my mind I put my hands around Lord Vithoba's feet."
Initiation
Sri Tukarama states in his abhangas that he received the guru-mantra containing the holy names of Krishna, Rama, and Hari-names of God in the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. (Hare is the vocative form of both Hara and Hari. )
Tukarama has revealed through his renowned devotional writings that he received his mantra through the medium of a dream from a divine personality he called "Raghava Chaitanya, Keshava Chaitanya." Scholars and historians cite evidence that Saint Tukarama had some mystical connection with Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Gaudiya Vaishnavas (followers of Lord Chaitanya) believe that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu initiated Sri Tukarama by way of this transcendental dream.
Srila Prabhupada writes in his introduction to Srimad-Bhagavatam: "Saint Tukarama, after initiation by the Lord, overflooded the whole of the Maharashtra province with the sankirtana movement, and the transcendental flow is still rolling on in the southwestern part of the great Indian peninsula."
As Sri Tukarama's meditation on Lord Vitthala became increasingly more profound, he began writing and reciting verses called abhangas, which encapsulated the essence of ancient shrutis and shastras. As Srila Prabhupada writes in the Foreword to Songs of the Vaishnava Acharyas,"Songs composed by the acharyas are not ordinary songs. When chanted by pure Vaisnavas, who follow the rules and regulations of Vaishnava character, they are actually effective in awakening the Krishna consciousness dormant in every living entity."
Saint Tukarama continuously sang the Lord's praises in his mother tongue of Marathi, composing over 4,500 abhangas. Many of these are reflections of events in his life, which make them somewhat autobiographical. However, there is an unmistakeable clear focus on Lord Panduranga (Vitthala), Lord of Pandharpur.
Sri Tukarama regularly went on sankirtana pilgrimage from Dehu to Pandharpur, along with thousands of his followers. Along the way he would stop and enlighten the crowds, which would increase from village to village. Always crying out to the Lord with his loving abhangas, Tukarama used his bhakti poetry to encourage everyone to take up a God-centered life.
Sri Tukarama's public discourses focused on offering one's daily life as service to the Lord. Tukarama worked for the enlightenment of society and emphasized sankirtana, chanting the Lord's holy names, rather than ritualistic observances or the mechanical study of the Vedas. Singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments, Saint Tukarama and the crowds he drew would happily walk over two hundred kilometers to Pandharpur.
Srila Prabhupada writes, "Tukarama Acharya became very famous in the Maharashtra province, and he spread the sankirtana movement all over the province. The sankirtana party belonging to Tukarama is still very popular in Bombay and throughout the province of Maharashtra, resembling the Gaudiya-Vaishnava sankirtana parties in the chanting of the holy names of the Lord, accompanied by mridangas and karatalas." (Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 9.282, Purport)
I once wrote to Srila Prabhupada to report on the progress our travelingsankirtana party was making in Maharashtra. Srila Prabhupada was extremely pleased with the village-to-village tour, which is now an annual festival.
In his reply to my letter, His Divine Grace wrote, "The whole of India and specifically your Maharashtra are enthused with Krishna. Now you have to revive their Krishna consciousness. This is Tukarama's country, but they are all becoming bad politicians. So, revive them by the process of thesankirtana movement. I am very glad that you are preaching village to village and will cover all of Maharashtra."
When I was just a small boy, the villagers in Aravede, Maharashtra, where I was born and raised, would hold kirtana all night long on Ekadashis. All the farmers and cowherds would gather together in various homes and sing Tukarama's abhangas accompanied by karatalas and mridangas.
I used to sit with them, late into the night, and listen to the melodiousbhajanas. Families singing the praises of God together and taking care of the land was an effective formula for simple living, high thinking. (God created the country; man made the mess.)
Although I had not read Bhagavad-gita or Srimad-Bhagavatam, I received the knowledge of the elders through the abhangas. Still today, many villagers, even illiterate onrd, memorize and recite Sri Tukarama's devotional poetry. These verses keep them in Krishna conscious spirits.
Saint Tukarama knew and taught that a human being can never attain happiness if there is no place for God. He wrote, "Look at my experience. I made God my own, and He gave me the answers to my questions whenever and wherever I put them to Him."
Saint Tukarama was several centuries ahead of his time. With utmost compassion, he anticipated the spiritual anguish of modern man. He would invoke divine love within his audiences, immersing them in deep emotions for God.
Sri Tukarama would sweetly sing: "The devotee's love is like the leash / Hari goes wherever He is led / We should recite Your name / You should give us Your love"
His foremost sources of scriptural references were Bhagavad-gita andSrimad-Bhagavatam: gita bhagavat kariti shravana akhanda cintan vithoba ce, "For those who hear and study Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, constant remembrance of Vitthala becomes possible."
Critical Moments in Tukarama's Life
Several events in Saint Tukarama's life deeply affected his spiritual writings and teachings. One incident involved a scholar named Rameshvara Bhatta, who was surprised to find the essence of the Bhagavad-gita being presented in the Marathi language with such eloquence. The envious scholar believed that Tukarama's birth as a non-brahmana disqualified him from elucidating the essence of the Vedas. Tukarama responded: "You might think these are my verses, but no, this is not my own language. Nor is it my own skill; it is God who makes me talk. It was Lord Vithoba Himself who ordered me to versify."
But Rameshvara Bhatta was not convinced of Sri Tukarama's purity of heart. Backed by a local militia, he ordered Tukarama to sink his verses in the sacred river Indrayani. Laughing and humiliating Sri Tukarama in public, Rameshvara announced to the crowd that if these devotional works were the outcome of divine order, then Lord Vinobha Himself would save the books from being destroyed.
Tukarama collected all his abhanga books, tied a heavy stone to the bundle, and with full faith tossed his entire collection of bhakti writings into the Indrayani River. One night, thirteen days later, Lord Vitthala, dressed as a child, visited Saint Tukarama. The Lord told him that He had been safeguarding the books underwater and that they would resurface the next day.
Some followers of Sri Tukarama received similar divine messages. Word spread, and the next day a large crowed gathered on the banks of the Indrayani. To the crowd's astonishment and Rameshvara Bhatta's dismay, the books were floating on the surface.
With exhuberant excitement and enthusiasm, people retrieved the sacred books-which were completely dry-and respectfully returned them to Sri Tukarama. His abhangas protected by Lord Vitthala Himself, Tukarama was free to preach, and so he continued with his devotional discourses and kirtana.
Encounter with King Shivajee
Sri Tukarama's reputation eventually reached King Shivajee, who sent a messenger bearing valuable gifts, such as lamps, horses, and gems. Tukarama politely refused the gifts and responded to the king with four of his abhangas. In one of the verses, Sri Tukarama complained to King Shivajee: "You seem to provide me exactly the things that do not interest me."
King Shivajee was astounded by Saint Tukarama's attitude of renunciation. So later, the king decided to travel to Lohgaon, near Dehu, to see Sri Tukarama and seek his saintly association and advice.
When the king presented more gifts, Tukarama said, "What use is this treasure to me; I want only Lord Vithoba. Your gesture shows your generosity, but to me these gifts are like pebbles."
Sri Tukarama politely asked King Shiva to recite the names of God and become a servant of Lord Vithoba.
Departure of Tukarama
Saint Tukarama's passing was remarkable. During the night before he left this world, the saintly devotee prepared for his departure by chanting the holy names without stop.
He extended an invitation to his family, friends, and followers who had gathered there: "I am going to Vaikuntha. Come along with me."
It is said that after Tukarama announced his imminent departure, Sri Garuda landed on the bank of the Indrayani to carry him to the spiritual world.
No one understood Tukarama's invitation. He affectionately embraced his fourteen intimate followers and his surviving son, named Mahadeva Vithoba.
They all came forward and paid their final respects to Sri Tukarama, who then cast a look at his second wife, Jijabai, and said to all, "Bid farewell to me now and return home. It's high time I responded to Vithoba's call in Vaikuntha. Vithoba has been waiting for quite some time now. It's time for me to leave, and I beseech all for their blessings. Vithoba has come through for me at the end, and Tuka will now disappear."
Sri Tukarama peacefully proceeded to board Garuda. The huge celestial bird flew to the spiritual sky, leaving behind a scene of hundreds of weeping and grieving devotees. He left this material world in his self-same body, singing the holy names of the Lord, just as Dhruva Maharaja had done in a previous age.(end)
He was certainly not an impersonalist:
I have become mad after Thee, 0 God.
I am vainly looking in the various directions for Thee.
I have left off all Samsara and the worldly manners.
My eyes pine after seeing Thy form, of which my ears have heard.
The very foundations of my life are shaken,
and I pant without Thee as a fish without water" (Abg. 2210).
"Are You engaged elsewhere to attend to a devotee's call ?
Or, are You fallen asleep?
You may have been caught in the meshes of the Gopis' devotion,
and may be looking at their faces!
Are You engaged in warding off some dangers of Your devotees?
Or, is the way far off, that You have to cross?
Do You see my faults that You do not come?
Tell me the reason, 0 God.
My life is really oozing out of my eyes," says Tuka (Abg. 1019).
"My mind is fixed on Thee, as a beggar's mind is fixed on rich food.
My heart is set on Thy feet, and my life-principle is dwindling.
As a cat sits looking at a ball of butter ready to pounce upon it,
so do I sit waiting for Thee, my Mother" (Abg. 3018).
"As verily, a young girl,
who is going to her father-in-law's house,
wistfully casts her glance at her home,
similarly do I look at Thee
and wish to know when I shall meet Thee.
As a child that misses its mother,
or as a fish that comes out of water,
similarly do I pant after Thee," says Tuka (Abg. 131).
"Shall I ever be fortunate to enjoy Thee without a moment's respite ?
When, 0 when, shall I enjoy that mental state?
Shall I ever be so fortunate as to reap the divine bliss?
Will ever God be pleased to give it to me?" (Abg. 2377).
"I ask everybody I meet, will God help me?
Will God have compassion on me, and save me from shame?
Verily, I have forgotten everybody,
and my only business is to think about God.
Shall I ever be fortunate to see
one who will be able to tell me when I may meet God?" (Abg. 689).
"Shall I ever be able to reach Thee like the Saints of old?
When I think how the Saints of old have known Thee,
I suffer from extreme restlessness. I am a bondsman of my senses.
They, on the other hand) were filled with happiness.
I cannot curb a single sense. How shall I be able to curb them all?
If Thou leavest me at this stage, I shall be as good as nought" (Abg. 319).
In these abangas of Tukarama is some bad translations one will find things like:
"If you meditate on the name of Govinda,
then you will become Govinda yourself.
There will be no difference between you and God.
The mind will be filled with joy,
and the eyes will shed down tears of love".(Abg. 3366)
However just like Tulsi das Ramacarita manasa has been misinterpreted and taken as mayavadi ideas, the same has been
done by rascal mayavadis polluting his pure teachings.For example Srila Prabhupada banned Ramacarita Manasa in ISKCON
as practically all translations are tinged with mayavadi.
In his translation to Srimad Bhagavatam Srila Prabhupada writes:
in His introduction to Srimad Bhagavatam:
"The Lord extensively traveled all over the southern part of India. The great saint of Maharastra known as Saint Tukarama was also initiated by the Lord. Saint Tukarama, after initiation by the Lord, overflooded the whole of the Maharastra Province with the sankirtana movement, and the transcendental flow is still rolling on in the southwestern part of the great Indian peninsula."
and
Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Madhya 9.282
tathā haite pāṇḍarapure āilā gauracandra
viṭhṭhala-ṭhākura dekhi' pāilā ānanda
SYNONYMS
tathā haite — from there; pāṇḍara-pure — to Pāṇḍarapura; āilā — came; gauracandra — Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu; viṭhṭhala-ṭhākura — the Deity knownas Viṭhṭhala; dekhi' — seeing; pāilā — got; ānanda — great happiness.
TRANSLATION
From there Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu went to Pāṇḍarapura, where He happily saw the temple of Viṭhṭhala Ṭhākura.
PURPORT
The city of Pāṇḍarapura is situated on the river Bhīmā. It is said that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu initiated Tukārāma when He visited Pāṇḍarapura, and thus Tukārāma became His disciple. Tukārāma Ācārya became very famous in the Maharashtra province, and he spread the sańkīrtana movement all over the province. The sańkīrtana party belonging to Tukārāma is still very popular in Bombay and throughout the province of Maharashtra. Tukārāma's book is known as Abhańga. His sańkīrtana party exactly resembles the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava sańkīrtana parties, for they chant the holy name of the Lord with mṛdańga and karatālas.
The Lord Viṭhṭhaladeva mentioned in this verse is a form of Lord Viṣṇu with two hands. He is Nārāyaṇa.
Letter from Srila Prabhupada to H.H Lokanath Swami
" Our Lokanath Swami is just like Saint Tukaram. The whole of India and specifically your Maharashtra are enthused with Krishna. Now you have to revive their Krishna consciousness. This is Tukaram's country, but now they are becoming bad politicians. So revive them by the process of the sankirtana movement. I am very glad that you are preaching village to village and will cover all of Maharashtra. You should train the one farmer from your native village so that he can actually become an ISKCON representative there. Iam espcially pleased to see how you are pushing forward the book distribution. Now we are getting reports that book distribution is doubling all over the world. I am enclosing a copy of the recent Sankirtana Newletter for you to see how your God brothers all over the world are pushing forward the book distribution. Now you are also doing all over India. Organize very solidly and thus increase the number of books distributed, the numbers of devotees made, and develop centers of Krishna Consciousness everywhere."
June 9th 1974
Srila Prabhupada states in a lecture:
Priest: I was... I mean I am still a bhakta of Krsna, but not..., of the old tradition of Maharastra the (indistinct) of Pandarapura, Vithoba.
Prabhupada: Vaisnava.
Priest: (indistinct) Krsna.
Prabhupada: Krsna, that Viththala, Viththala. Viththala, there is... So they are Vaisnava.
Priest: And it's the main... (indistinct) center of Maharastra.
Prabhupada: Yes, Pandarapura.
Priest: When I went to India twenty-five years ago, I first studied for four years at this pilgrimage.
Prabhupada: What was your subject matter studying?
Priest: I was studying for a thesis, a doctorate thesis, this pilgrimage, the story of the pilgrimage and everything of the brahmana pilgrimage. And as you know, it was one of the main bhakti tradition in Maharastra, Orissa, Jnanesvara.
Prabhupada: Tukarama, Tukarama.
Priest: Tukarama.
Prabhupada: Oh.
Priest: I have proceeded to (indistinct).
Prabhupada: Tukarama is in the line of Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Priest: That's right.
Prabhupada: He was initiated by Caitanya. His avanga, avanga, that is written there, he was initiated by Caitanya.
Priest: It's a great bhakti tradition.
Prabhupada: Bhaktya mam abhijanati yavan yas casmi tattvatah [Bg. 18.55]. Find out. If we want to know God, then we have to accept the process recommended by God. That is bhakti.
your servant
Paramananda das
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