Saint Tukaram

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Saint Tukaram was shudra by birth. His acts of worship and composing

of devotional songs were frowned upon by the contemporary high caste

pundits as not only improper but a crime too. One of them Sri

Rameshwar Bhatta once called Tukaram and admonished him †" “Being a

shudra you should desist from indulging in bhakti, kirtan and writing

of abhangas (type of devotional songs) etc.â€. Tukaram being very

simple hearted accepted the advice of Rameshwar Bhatta and asked, “But

what about the abhangas that have already been composed?†The wicked

pundit said, “Throw them down in the riverâ€.

 

The unattached yogi Tukaram did precisely that and immersed his

collection of abhangas in Indrayani river. But while he did so his

heart bled and he lay before the Vitthal temple for full thirteen days

without food or drink. He kept thinking, “My devotion to God is not

complete. That is why He has turned away from meâ€.

 

The sincere call of a bleeding heart, which is illumined with the

light of truth, never goes unanswered. On the thirteenth day Tukaram

received instructions in his dream that bundles of his abhanga were

lying by the riverside and that he should go and get them. When his

devout followers learnt of his dream they marched in a procession

singing paeans of praise for Lord Vitthal hailing the mercy of God and

brought the bundles of Abhangas back †" all intact.