TUKARAM, THE SAINT POET OF
MAHARASHTRA
(A BRIEF INTRODUCTION)
Tukaram, the saint poet
of Maharashtra, lived in the 17th century. He came from a poor
peasant family. He was born in the little village of Dehu, sixteen miles north-west
of Poona, probably in the year 1608 A.D. He by caste a Sudra. His father was a
petty corn dealer. Unlike fatalists, he does not blame external forces for his
infirmities and misfortunes. In one
of his songs addressed to God, he says: ‘O though great One,’ ‘Thy majesty is
beyond all description. How shall I hymn
thee? Let Thy grace protect us.’ ‘My enemies are not in the world outside. It is the passions within me that bring
dangers and difficulties. Who but Thou
can save us from their attacks?”
Like Ramanuja,
Madhavacharya, Ram Das, he, too, was influenced by the great tide of vigour
that emanated from Shankacharya and swept round India by south, west, and north
in a spiral curve.
Following the mystics both
in the East and the West, Tukraram describes God as the Bridegroom. He sings: ‘As the chaste wife longs only to
see her Lord, such am I to Vitthala (a Hindu deity worshipped in Maharashtra).
Tukaram worshipped
Krishna and his spouse Rukmini. He followed the Maharashtra school of bakti,
headed by Jnaneshvara, Namdev and Eknath. The bakti of these saint poets had
for its symbol the pure and ser3ene love of the husband and wife, not the
temptations of love of Krishna and Radha.
As a poet, Tukaram
occupies a unique place in the galaxy of the saints of Maharashtra. According
to J.Nelson Fraser and K.B.Marthe, the translators of his poems into English “In
the accomplishment of character, intelligence and composition he is second to
none among the MARATHA WRITERS. He is
the greatest of mystics who have brought about a high degree of reconciliation
between worldly and spiritual.”
Tukaram composed hundreds
of poems touching ‘the various phases of Man’s life, his aspirations, his
longings to achieve liberation --- the supreme goal of his life.”
Tukaram’s humility is
unparallel. He writes: “I am a man of low degree ---- why should I be proud? It
is you that people honour in me, O Narayana. What pleasure or pain can I find
in that? Honour and dishonor spring from the qualities of men. I am like a rag that men set on their heads
to honour it, because it once held a golden coin. People honour me, but I am
not what they honour; what reason is there to delight in so feeble a creature.”
He shows the same
humility about his status as a poet: ‘Some one may say of me’, “You are a poet,
but my speech is not my own. It is not
my own contrivance that is at work. the pervader of the world set me
speaking. Weak as I am, what power have
I to disarm? What I say is what Govinda prompts. I am appointed to sit and measure out, but I
am nothing, the authority of master is all. Tuka says, I am a faithful
henchman, I bear the seal of my master’s name.”
And finally this is what
he says about the arrogance in other poets:” The company of great poets would
contaminate me; they foully abuse their gifts. Those who delight in pride are
blind and deaf; their faces shall e blackened with shame at last. Red lac may be put next to gold, but their
properties continue what they were. Men
fall into confusion, says Tuka, because they do not know the difference
betwe4ebn a servant and a master.”
---------- G. R. KANWAL
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