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.

A detailed article about Chokhamela is available at http://www.spiritual-note.com/Sant_Chokhamela.

Chokhamela lived in Mangalavedha near Pandharpur in Maharashtra in the 14th century. He was born in the lower cast (Mahar), but his devotion to Lord Vitthala was pure and unmatched. He migrated to Pandharpur and became a disciple of the great saint-poet Namdeo. Chokha used to constantly chant the name of Panduranga and clean the temple premises daily. However, he was not allowed to enter the sanctum due to his birth in the lower cast. One day someone questioned the futility of his devotion to Lord, as he would never be able to see God. Humiliated and deeply hurt Chokha abstained from taking food and wept inconsolably when Panduranga appeared before him, embraced him, took him inside the temple and talked to him. The temple priest was outraged as he felt that the temple was desecrated by Chokha and ordered him to stay across the river Chandrabhaga. Chokha’s pleas fell on the deaf ears and at last Chokha went to stay across the river. However, Lord started to visit Chokha daily and both of them used to take lunch together. One day the priest was passing by Chokha’s hut when Chokha was taking lunch with Panduranga and Soyara (Chokha’s wife) was serving. Priest could not see Panduranga as his mind was impure. Soyara spilled the curd on Panduranga’s pitambar by mistake. Chokha exclaimed, “Oh! Soyara you have soiled Panduranga’s pitambar”. Priest felt it was a deliberate attempt by Chokha to show his devotion and slapped Chokha across his face. Later he bathed in the river and ferried across the river. The priest was stunned to see Lord Vitthala’s swollen cheek. He realized the intensity of Chokha’s devotion towards Lord. He to Chokha, asked for his forgiveness and requested him to pacify the Lord. Chokha’s prayers and request pacified Lord Vitthala.

Chokha was forced to return to Mangalavedha as the people there wanted to construct a wall in order to separate shudra people from others. While he was working there, he was killed when the wall collapsed and was crushed. Sant Namdeo deeply grieved the death of a great Vaishnava devotee, went to Mangalavedha and brought the mortal remains to Chokha and constructed his Samadhi in Pandharpur in front of the Lord Panduranga temple.

Samadhi picture:

Chokamela Samadhi

Surdas [1478-1581] was born blind to poor parents and because of this he was a victim of neglect and abuse. He left home at the tender age of 6.

The greatest blessing of Surdas’s life came when Sri Vallabhacharya, the celebrated exponent of the Shuddhadvaita, also known as Pushti Marga, accepted him as his disciple. From his teacher he received knowledge of hindu philosophy. He memorized the Srimad Bhagavata and other hymns in Sanskrit.

He portrayed in exquisite poetry the life of Krishna, especially child Krishna, in such vivid detail that he has not been equaled by any saint or poet, not even Kalidasa, in describing childhood. It is one of the marvels in the realms of literature how a blind poet could portray in such meticulous and colourful detail the childhood of Krishna, stage by stage. Krishna’s cutting his first tooth, his uttering of the first word, his taking the first step unaided, are all occasions for Surdas to compose inspired songs which are sung even to this day, in hundreds of homes, by mothers who see child Krishna in their own children.

The love that had been denied to him as a child flows by means of his songs on, the love that was showered on Bala Gopala in Braj by Yashoda, Nandagopa, the Gopis and the Gopas. Surdas never entertained any idea of marriage but saw in Sri Krishna the eternal lover and he portrayed the love between Radha and Krishna as ethereal love-the irresistible attraction the individual soul has for the Oversoul or of the Jivatma for the Paramatma.

His work consists primarily of three major compilations, the Sur-Saravali, the Sahitya-Lahiri and the Sur-Sagar. The Saravali is supposed to have originally one hundred thousand verses but many have been lost forever. It is based on the analogy of the Holi festival, by far the most popular of the festivals of the time, and always associated with Krishna as part of his Divine Play. Apart from being great narrative poetry they are also significant sources of information about the past.

The Sahitya-Lahiri is supposedly a treatise of various forms of poetical composition, dealing primarily with Bhakti.

The Sur-Sagar is his masterpiece, the ‘Oceanic work’ as its name indicates and remains the most influential and important of all his works. It deals with the life of Krishna in detail. His fame was wide spread though he never left his native land, even the Mughal emperor Akbar paid homage to him.

Link: Web Page

Shri Vasudevanand Saraswathi

Born in 1854 AD, Sri Vasudeva Shastri, who was later to be known to his followers as Shri Vasudevanand Saraswathi, led an ordinary householder’s life before he turned completely to spiritual life. As a householder, he led a rather difficult life, owing to the disputes between his wife and mother. As he turned to spiritual life, he made rapid progress and received direct guidance from Lord Dattatreya. Shri Govind Swami whom he met at Wadi acted as his guide and mentor during these testing times. After his wife’s death, he renounced the worldly life completely and went to Ujjain, where he was initiated into monastic life by Shri Narayananand Saraswati, who also gave him the title of Shri Vasudevanand Saraswati. The Swamiji spent the next 23 years of his life in the service of Lord Dattatreya, traveling to various parts of the country by foot and propagating the Vedic ideals.

Link: Website

Purandara Dasa

Purandara Dasa was born to a pawnbroker named Varadappa Nayaka. Varadappa Nayaka and his wife Lakshmi Bai had been childless for several years, and finally, after praying to Lord Srinivasa of Tirupati, they became proud parents of a child whom they called Srinivasa. The family are supposed to have hailed from Pandharpur in modern day Maharashtra but Purandara Dasa lived in Hampi during the latter part of his life.

Srinivasa Nayaka grew up and entered his father’s business. However, unlike his father, he was a miser, so much so that it is said that he even balked at spending money on treatment for his father’s illness. His wife Saraswathi bai was the opposite: always wishing to contribute to charity much to the displeasure of her husband.

One day, Lord Vishnu in the guise of a poor priest visited Srinivasa Nayaka’s shop who wanted some alms to perform the thread ceremony for his son. Srinivasa Nayaka, being a miser, asked him to return the following day, and kept the Brahmin coming for another six months. Finally, fed up with the Brahmin’s persistence, he gave him one fake coin that he played with as a child. Vishnu as the priest then told Srinivasa’s wife Saraswathi the pitiful story of how a miserly pawnbroker made him come to his shop every day for six months only to give him a fake coin in the end. Saraswathi’s heart melted and she gave the Brahmin her nose ring as alms (a gift from her parents and thus not something that she got from her husband). The Brahmin promptly took the nose ring back to Srinivasa Nayaka’s shop, where he wanted to pawn it for money. The pawnbroker recognized it, however, so he locked it up in his safe and hurried home. He demanded that Saraswathi produce her nose ring immediately. Struck with fear, Saraswathi locked herself in the kitchen and tried to swallow poison. Miraculously, the nose ring dropped from the heavens into her cup of poison and she was able to produce it for her husband. Upon returning to his shop, he opened the safe, only to find that the nose ring in the safe had vanished. This put his mind into a turmoil. After deep thought, he came to the conclusion that the brahmin was none other than Lord Shri Purandara Vitthala himself. He recalled all the incidents that had transpired in the previous six months. Wonder struck, he was ashamed of his miserliness, Srinivasa Nayaka decided to renounce all material belongings and become a dasa (servant)of god. Thus, Srinivasa Nayaka came to be Purandara Dasa. In gratitude for this event, he would later compose a song dedicated to his wife, for having shown him the path to God. From that day onwards he became a devotee of Shri Hari (Lord Vishnu). The once Navkoti Narayana became a Narayana bhakta, the hands which sported gold and diamond rings now played the tamboora, the neck which used to be resplendent with golden chains now housed the tulasi mala. The man who had turned away countless people away, now himself went around collecting alms and living the life of a mendicant. The Nayaka who would have lived and died an inconsequential life became the Great Purandaradasa, loved and revered even centuries after his death.

Links:

1. Good information about Purandara Dasa on Freeindia.com
2. Good information about life of Purandara Dasa and his literature on Dvaita.org
3. A page on Wikipedia
4. A page on Spiritual-note.com
5. Compositions of Purandara Dasa on www.carnaticmusic.esmartmusic.com