Tukarama -- Saint of Maharashtra

[Guest guest]

James:

santmatfellowship

 

Tukarama -- Saint of Maharashtra

 

By James Bean

 

Copyright July 1997

 

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading about Saint Tukarama ever since I

learned of him a decade and a half ago. In fact, I've tried to

collect all of the available books on the life, teachings, and poetry

 

of Tukarama that are in English. I agree with the Indian scholar Dr.

 

R.D. Ranade who said:

 

Tukarama exhibits all the doubts and disbeliefs, the weaknesses

and the sufferings, the anxieties and the uncertainties, through

which every aspiring soul must pass, before he can come into the

life of Light, Spirit and Harmony. There is no other instance

in the whole galaxy of the Maratha Saints, barring perhaps

Namadeva, which can be regarded as illustrative of this human

element which we find in Tukarama.

 

Tukarama does have many analogues in literature: the poetry of John

Bunyan, the Thanksgiving Hymns of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the

Psalms of King David; Baba Faqir Chand's writings as well.

 

Saint Tukarama (1598 - 1649 AD) was born at Dehu near Poona in the

State of Maharashtra, India. He is the most famous of Maratha poets,

 

and one of the major voices of Bhakti Marg -- the Way of Love and

Devotion. His compositions of poetry, prayers and hymns (gathas and

abhangas) are filled with human doubts and frailties. He also

expresses words of ecstatic love and rapturous union with his Divine

 

Beloved that filled his soul to overflowing. Tukarama was truly one

of India's greatest Sants (Saints).

 

I highly recommend his poetry to any mystically inclined soul who's a

 

connoisseur of the inspiring spiritual classics of the east. Think of

 

Tukarama as another Rumi, Hafiz, or Kabir.

 

SELECTIONS FROM THE POETRY OF SAINT TUKARAMA

 

The largest translation of his poetry in English is, " The Poems of

Tukarama, " J. Nelson Fraser, published in Delhi by Motilal

Banarsidass Books. This is from a section titled, " Remonstrations

With God. "

 

We are lost in a wood of anxiety: why do you still delay? Come,

O Vitthala [God], our strength is spent in entreaties. Why do

you not fear disgrace, thus abandoning your own children?

___

 

We are full of anxious longing: we have laid hold of God,

but he seems far off.

___

 

I have not disobeyed any voice of authority: why has Narayana [God]

left me? With undoubting mind I beseech him, for I have not found

the peace that knows no care.

___

 

It is not right that you should forget your servants; for there is

perfect justice at your feet. Tuka says, 'You are not ashamed,

though we are sinking in the gulf of anguish!

 

Tukarama wrote about several practices that transformed his life. He

 

prayed for help in this way:

 

Take, Lord, my life Live thou thy life through me. ( " Oxford Book

of Prayer " )

 

He taught the principle that we are influenced by the company we

keep, that spiritual community or companionship can be nurturing and

 

supportive to our efforts. He writes:

 

Let me meet people of my own kind, so that I may be satisfied.

My mind pants to meet those who love God. Mere contact with the

sandalwood tree, and plants all around emanate the same aroma.

Likewise have I embraced the feet of Sants [saints], and my

separateness is extinguished.

 

Like other Sants and Bhakti mystics, he believed that God is within

all living beings, so we can see God in those that we meet --

Namaste' ('the God in me bows to the God in you'). This realization

changes everything in our consciousness and, for us, causes

the " Kingdom of God to be spread out upon the earth. " (Gospel of

Thomas, Saying 113)

 

Another important spiritual practice for Tukarama was the chanting of

 

various Names of God (Simran):

 

He who utters the Name of God while walking, gets the merit of a

sacrifice at every step. Blessed in his body. It is itself a

place of pilgrimage. He who utters the Name of God without ceasing

receives liberation while living.

 

Another important ingredient for the spiritual life was kirtana, the

 

singing of hymns of praise. I do notice that a very large number of

mystics have composed their own devotional songs or poems. Apparently

 

this creative outpouring from the heart helps to stimulate something

 

deep inside, which is why so many mystics and devotees, east and

west, have found composing their own songs or poems to be extremely

important. Saint Tukarama's explanation of this focuses upon the need

 

for Bhakti, the need to engender love and devotion:

 

This God cannot be attained except through love. What is required

 

is pure devotion. That is the way to liberation. In fact, God does

not care for anything except love. ( " Mysticism In India, " R.D.

Ranade, SUNY Press, an excellent anthology of poet-saints of

Maharashtra, including Tukarama)

 

All these spiritual practices help to transform the body, emotions,

thoughts, and one's very existence into expressions of the soul. This

 

makes it much easier to have enough peace of mind to be able to

meditate -- to enter the world of the soul.

 

Infinite bliss has filled my entire being, the stream of love

divine flows freely and I sing the Lord's Name unceasingly. I

lead a life eternal that cannot ever ebb. I repeat ever and

again the Name of the Lord; to me, this shore of the ocean of

life and the other one [eternity], are truly one and the same.

( " Tukaram, " Chandravati Rajwade, RS Books)

 

Tukarama, speaking from the ecstasy of mystic contemplation says:

 

I have found a Sea of Love, an inexhaustible flood;

I have opened a treasure of spiritual knowledge,

it diffuses the lustre of a million suns,

arisen in thy worshipper's souls. ( " The Poems of Tukarama " )

 

The same Tuka, who earlier in life composed many candid and resentful

 

prayers, lamenting over famine and misfortune, ended up being one of

 

India's greatest poet-mystics and Saints.

 

The book " Tukaram - Saint of Maharashtra, " published by RS Books,

makes available many of his mystical compositions pertaining to the

experience of Inner Light, the Sound Current and the Higher Planes.

 

DARKNESS FLEES BEFORE THE SUN

 

I penetrated the Eye Center and perceived

the Light within.

Darkness has vanished,

And the sun has burst forth

in full splendor.

 

So long as the soul knows not itself,

The brilliance of the sun cannot be seen.

 

Says Tuka, I see my true self and the Lord

Pervade the whole creation as one effulgence.

 

INNER EXPERIENCE

 

Through the Eye, my vision has risen to

Daswandwar,

And my soul has cast off its coverings.

 

Firmly established at the Tenth Door,

I adore my Master's Radiant Form,

which I recognize by His grace.

 

The bubble of illusion has been pricked,

The Almighty, Merciful Lord has revealed

Himself.

 

In the blissful state of fulfillment,

Tuka, without hands, clings to His feet.

 

THE SOUND CURRENT

 

Tuka is absorbed in the surging wave

of Sound Divine;

Its resplendence spreads through his

innermost being.

The Lord has made His home in me,

The lamp of eternal Light has been

kindled.

The all-pervading Sound, O Tuka, is

the Lord Himself.

 

Of his life Tukarama wrote:

 

I am even smaller than the atom, but I've expanded to the limits of

space. I have swallowed my ego, and I am freed from the bonds of

body. I have discarded the three coverings [physical, astral, and

causal], and the flame of truth shines within me. What's left of

Tuka is only for the benefit of others.///

 

 

 

 

_________________

To get your own FREE ZDNet Onebox - FREE voicemail, email, and fax,

all in one place - sign up today at http://www.zdnetonebox.com