Spiritual-Note

Sant Tukaram

Tukaram or Tukoba, constantly sang the praises of lord Vitthala, or Krishna. It was the constant singing about God which led Tukaram to compose his abhangs. It is these abhangs for which Tuka is most famous. The abhangs are unique in the world of literature. They are often called poems, but they don’t have the artful imagery associated with poems. The abhangs express Tuka’s feelings (whether elation or frustration) and philosophical outlook. During his 41 years, Tuka composed over 5,000 abhangs. Many of them speak of events in his life, which make them somewhat autobiographical. Yet, they are focused on God and not Tukaram.

He faced varieties of difficulties with astonishing patience. He refused diamonds and opals offered by Shivaji Maharaj himself. His devotional songs are an invaluable contribution to Marathi spiritual literature.

Links:

Biography

1. A complete biography in Marathi is available on Tukaram.com.
2. A good information about Tukaram’s life is available on Yogameditation.com.au and Freeindia.org.

Tukaram Gatha (writings by Tukaram)

The complete Tukaram Gatha is available online reading and for download in the following places.

• Available in Marathi on WikiBooks.org for online reading.
• Available in Marathi for download in Zip format on Tukaram.com.

Vardhamana Mahavira

Vardhamana Mahavira was born of King Siddartha and Queen Trisala of Kundalpura, in 599 BC. Even though he was the price he was virtuous by nature. At the age of 30 (in 569 BC) he abandoned home and spent next twelve years in meditating. He attained omniscience in 557 B.C.

Mahavira lived a life of absolute truthfulness, a life of perfect honesty and a life of absolute chastity. He lived without possessing any property at all.

‘Maha’ means great and ‘Vira’ means a hero. ‘Tirtha’ literally means a ford, a means of crossing over. Metaphorically, it denotes a spiritual guide or philosophy which enables one to cross over the ocean of recurring births in this world. ‘Kara’ means one who makes. The whole word Tirthankara means a Jain holy teacher.

Mahavir preached that right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge (samyak jnana) and right conduct (samyak charitra) together is the real path to attain the liberation from karmic matter of one’s self.

The right conduct (samyak charitra) include the following:

• Nonviolence (Ahimsa) – not to cause harm to any living beings
• Truthfulness (Satya) – to speak the harmless truth only
• Non stealing (Asteya) – not to take anything not properly given
• Chastity (Brahmacharya) – not to indulge in sensual pleasure
• Non possession/ Non attachment (Aparigraha) – complete detachment from people, places, and material things

Mahavira was the last (24^th) Tirthankara. He entered into Nirvana in 527 BC at the age of 72.

His birthday is celebrated as Mahavir Jayanti and is the most important religious holiday of Jains around the world.

Links:

• Jainworld.com
• A web page on Dlshq.org