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WHEREAS God’s biography is referred to as ‘nectar supreme’,
that of the devotee is called ‘nectar of religion’. Though
the saints related and sang stories of the gods so
effectively, it is difficult for us to narrate tales of the
saints themselves; for they are not what they seem to be and
they do not look like what they really are. Besides, as
Jnanadev (1275-1296) aptly puts it in Amrutanubhav,
our verbal equipment too has its own limitations. If we were to ask them: Who art thou? Where have
thou come from? Where art thou going? What is thy name?
What is thy form? -- They will simply reply “Nothing.”
Despite these limitations we have attempted to present, in
brief, the life and work of the great saint-poet, Tukaram
(1609-1650).
BIRTH
AND ANCESTORS
‘Praise
be to village Dehu, for Lord Vithoba Himself dwells there’
Village
Dehu (‘Dehu Gaon’ in Marathi), near Pune, is considered a
blessed place for it was here that Tukaram was born and
performed his divine deeds. Dehu also wears a halo because
it is considered a jagrut sthaan, “an abode of live
divinity”, for Lord Vithoba Himself is believed to reside
there. A
temple of Lord Vithoba adorns the beautiful bank of the
river Indrayanai. The Creator of the Universe stands here
with his hands resting on his waist. Rakhumai (Rukmini)
stands to His left. Just opposite stands the Holy Fig Tree (ficus
religiosa). Garuda (the eagle), the Lord’s vehicle,
stands with his hands folded. At the entrance is Lord
Vighnaraj (Ganesha). Just outside are Lord Bhairav (Shiva)
and Lord Hanuman. To the south is the temple of Lord
Hareshwar and close by is the Ballalvan (woods). It is
supposed to be the seat of Lord Siddheshwar. Blessed are the
inhabitants of this place, they are very fortunate indeed,
reciting as they do the name of the Lord God. Thus goes the
description of village Dehu at the time Tukaram lived there.
About
three hundred years before Tukaram, his ancestor,
Vishwambhar, was living at Dehu. The whole family owed its
religious allegiance to Lord Vithoba. The Pandharpur wari
(pilgrimage) during the holy months of Aashadh and Kartik
had been a long tradition in the family of Vishwambhar since
his forebears. It was his unwavering and steadfast devotion
that compelled, as it were, the Lord to rush from Pandharpur
to Dehu just as the exemplary devotion of Pundalik had
earlier attracted Him over from Vaikunth to Pandharpur.
It
was on Aashadh (fourth month of the Hindu lunar
calendar) shudh Dashmi (the tenth day of the
bright/waxing moon) the Lord appeared in Vishwambhar’s dream
and told him of His existence there and went to retire in a
mango grove. The very next morning Vishwambhar went into the
grove along with fellow villagers and found the idols of
Lord Vithoba and Rakhumai. He then brought those over to his
wada (house) and installed them in his place of
worship there. People soon came to know of this divine
miracle and started coming in droves to pay obeisance. An
annual festival soon became a regular feature and a tract of
land was bequeathed upon Vishwambhar to take care of the
festival expenditure. A pilgrimage would be held on shudh
Ekadashi (the 11th day of the
bright/waxing moon) of each month.
However,
after the demise of Vishwambhar, his sons, Hari and Mukund,
showed no religious inclination and turned towards their
original vocation: the armed services. They sought royal
patronage along with their families and became officers of
the royal army of that time. Their mother, Amabai, frowned
upon this. The Lord was also displeased with their decision.
He once appeared in Amabai’s dream and told her of His
unhappiness over the state of affairs. ‘I left Pandharpur
and came to Dehu for you, but you chose to leave me and seek
royal patronage. This is not fair. You should return to Dehu,’
He said. Amabai spoke to her sons about the Lord’s
admonition and tried to persuade them to return to Dehu. The
sons, however, paid no heed.
As
fate would have it, the state was soon invaded by an alien
power and both the brothers laid down their lives in the
ensuing battle with the foe. Mukund’s wife preferred to go
sati following her husband’s demise. Hari’s wife was
pregnant at the time of his death on the battlefield.
Therefore, Amabai returned to Dehu with her. Soon the
daughter-in-law was sent to her parents for delivery and
Amabai devoted herself to the Lord’s service. Hari’s widow
gave birth to a son, who was named Vitthal. Vitthal’s son
was Padaji, Padaji’s son Shankar, Shankar’s son Kanhoba and
Kanhoba’s son was Bolhoba. Bolhoba had three sons: Savji was
the eldest, followed by Tukaram and Kanhoba, the youngest.
The
family in which Tukaram was born was indeed a very pious
one.
‘Venerable
are the families and venerable the land in which God’s
disciples are born.’
Tukaram’s
family belonged to the Kshatriya (warrior) caste. His
forefathers had embraced martyrdom while fighting the enemy
on the battlefield. The family was also very cultured and
religious. Worship of Lord Vithoba had been its hallmark for
generations together and so was the annual pilgrimage to
Pandharpur. The family also had the distinction of being
mahajans (money-lenders). It owned farmland engaged in
money-lending and trade. The family owned two wadas
(houses) at Dehu: one for residence and the other, in the
marketplace, for trade and business. It enjoyed the respect
of the villagers and also of those living in the immediate
environs. They were called kunbis (farming
community), because they engaged in agriculture and vanis
(trading community) because of trading. However, Tukaram
abjured all these, because of which he came to called
gosavi (someone like a fakir). Nevertheless,
‘Gosavi’ was never the surname of the family. It was ‘More’
and ‘Gosavi’ was an honorific.
The
vaishya (trader) community had come to be included
among the shudras (the lowest in the social scale)
about the time of the Bhagawad-geeta and during
Jnanadev’s time, the Kshatriyas were also being counted
among the shudras. Only two castes (Varna) had
remained: the Brahmins and the shudras. Thus Tukaram
also came to be called a shudra. |
