Bhakthirathnakara- Thukaram
Welcome tothe land of abhangs.
Bare paandurangaakevhaam beta dhesee
jaahlomee paradhejthuja veeNa (Thukaram)
OhPanduranga, when will you come ? When am I going to see you?
This was thecry of the devotees of Panduranga and He obliged them by appearing in variousroles in the sacred place of Panduranga Kshethra. The devotion of the Padurangabhakthas overflowed in the land and seems to become the Chandhrabhaga river. Weshaii see the story of the greatest of them all, the king of abhangs, Thukaram.
Thukaramwas born in a village named Dehu near Poona in a trader family. His parentswere rich but he lost them while he was young and he looked after the tradethey were doing. He had two wives, and when there was a famine his first wifedied. His second wife was constantly nagging him. He became depressed andPanduranga appeared in his dream and told him that he was Namdeva in hisprevious birth and initiated him in bhakthi. Since that time Thukaram spentmost of his time an singing and dancing about Panduranga and had composed morethan 5ooo abhangs. He died at he age of 50 but his fame had spread far and wideand most of his abhangs have biographical content.
Thukaramhimself says in one of his abhangs that he was Namadeva in his previous birth.
He says, inhis abhang,
'krthayugaamaajee ho tho meeprahlad------kaliyuagaa maajee roopa dhonanaamayaahanaNonaavatharalo---Sathakoti kavithaa karidhaa—'
"TheLord told me that I was Prahlada inkrthyuga, Angadha in Thethaayuga and Uddhva in Dvaparayuga and in kaliyuga Ihave been born in two janmas. I was Namadeva and vowed that I will compose100crores of poems on the Lord and I am continuing that in this life."
Itseems that Namadeva prayed to the Lord that he should give him the ability tocompose 100crores of poems on Him and the Lord Himself came and wrote it forhim. But before he could finish the number he wanted he felt disgusted with thehuman birth and wanted to attain the feet of the Lord. Then the Lord grantedhis wish and told him that he would enjoy the bliss with the Lord for some timeand would be born again as Thukaram to finish what he started. This shows thatwhen our wish is granted by the Lord it would not and could not go waste and wehave to enjoy the result of our prayer as in the case of Dhruva. He went to dopenance to attain an exalted position but when he saw the Lord he wanted onlymukthi. But the Lord said he had to enjoy the fulfillment of his wish withwhich he started to do penance. We shall see the bhakthi filled lif eof Thukaram in the following episodes.
Panduranga appeared in the dream of Thukaram withNamadeva and told him that he wasNamadevain his previous birth and asked him to fulifl the wish of Namdeva andcompose songs on Him. From that time Thukaram became engrossed only in bhakthiof Panduranga and sang about Him.
Once he was entrusted with the job of driving away the birds.But you know what he did! He was seeing Panduanga everywhere and whne the birdscame and ate the corn he was joyously watching and singing on Pandurangafeeling one with nature. "The flowers and trees are my dear companions" he sang. He saw the nature, the sky and the earth everything asPanduranga. 'aaDhi beej ek le' ," the seed was one in the beginning Youpervade everything in many forms but the Brahman is one." He sings,
vittaladqaaLa vittala dhinDee
vittala thodeem ucchaara
vittala avgaa baaNdavala
vital bola vittala
Meaning,
The thalam isVittal mELam is vittal, chant the name of vittala, it is the treasure. Let us say vittala He is the sound He is themetre. All else is Vittal He is the joy , He is the sorrow He is always on mytongue.
Thukaram extols the glory of the namasankeerthana thus.
naama sankeerthana saadhana pai sobE
jaladheela paapem janmaanthareechee
Namasankeerrthana m is the only means of burning allyour sins.
nalagathee saayaasa jaavE vanaantharaa
sukhE ye tho karaa naaraayanaa
No need to go to the forest , Lord Hari will come toyour house.
taayeecha baisoNee karaa Ekachiththa
aavadee anantha aaLavava
Sit in aplace firmly and integrate your mind on theLord.
raama Krishna hari vittala keSavaa
manthra haa japaavaa sarva kaaLa
Always chant the manthra, ‘Rama Krishna hari Vittala Kesava.’
thukaa maNe sobE aahE sarvaahunee
chaahNaa tho dhaNee getho yEthE
Thukaram says, “ Those who do nama sankeerthanam will get everything in this world itself.”
He became popular and this roused the envy of some andthey abused him. but he told them that he was grateful to them for enumeratinghis faults which were countless, with agood intention that he should correct himself. He said that instead of talkingabout the attributes of him they could start narrating the qualities of theLord which are auspicious and innumerable. He called them blessed because theyenumerated his faults which are innumerable and even the Lord cannot countthem. He said that he will bow dowm to them as they do so only to make himpure. Such was the sathvik nature of Thukaram.
Thukaram used to go to Pandaripuram in the month ofashaada and sing and talk about the Lord there. He describes his visit toPandaripur thus:
Dhanya jaalOm ho samsaaree
aamhi dhekheelee pandaree
We saw pandari, freed from samsar, became blessed.
chandhrabhage karoom snaana
pundaleekaa che dharSana
bathed inChandrabhagaa and had darsan of Pundaleeka.
karoom kshethrapradhakshiNaa
betoom santha saaDhu sajjanaa
We shall go round Pandari and see the sadhus.
ubhe raahoom garudaa paareem
doLe baroonee paahoom hari
We shall ascend the step of Garuda and stand in frontof Lord hari and dr4ink His beauty with our eyes.
thukaa maNE vaaLa vanteem
mahaa laabha pukaa saadeem
We shall have the dust of His feet on us and get thegreatest blessing.
When He saw Panduranga face to face, he was overjoyedand describes Him.
sundhar the Dhyaana ubhaa vitevaree
kara kataavaree tevooneeyaam
Your feet that stand on a brick and your hands placedon hips
galaam thulaseehaara gaam se peethaambara
aavadE niranthara hechi Dhyaan
Tulasi garland on your neck and the yellow silk aroundwaist and your beautiful face may stay in mind forever.
makarakundale thaLa padhee SravaNeem
kandeem kousthubhamaNeem viraajitha
Makara kundala on your ears and the Kousthubha on yourchest.
thukaamaNe maajE hechi sarva sukha
paaheena Srimukha aavadeenem
Thukha says, You are the abode of all joy and beautyand may Your form stay in my mind.
There is a pillar in the temple of Pandaripur in fronthall of the main sannindhi which is called Narasimha pillar. When I came acrossone abhang I thought that Thukaram must have composed it after seeing thios pillar.
prahlaadha kaaraNenrsimha jaalaasee
Dhyaachiyaa bolaasee sathya kElEm
Raamakrishna govindha naaraayaNaa hai
garjE raajadhvaareem bhaktha raja
vittala maaDhava mukundha kE Sava
dheNeem dhaithya raava dhasa kalaam
thukhaa maNe dhayaam kaaraNEm saguNa
bhakthaanchE vachana sathya kElEm
It means ,
You incarnated as Narasimha due to the devotion ofPrahladha, to prove his words that Lord Hari is everywhere. Prahladha sang yournames raama Krishna govindha narayana hari vital etc. and the asura king wasshocked.
When we go to Pandaripur the whole place seems to becharged with the vibrations of the devotees and every grain of sand was steppedon by them. I found that the whole place , and the temple no less , echo theabhangs of the devotees of Panduranga. The awareness of the live presence of the Lord at every nook and corner was felt at threeplaces in my experience, the other two being, Guruvayur and Brindavan.
Panduranga also proved His love for His devotees wichwas evn more than they had for Him. Thukaram praises the love the Lord had forHis bhakthas thus:
Uccha neecha keemheem nENE bhagavantha
dhishtE bhaavabhakthi dhEkho niyaam
charma rangoom laagE rohidhaasaa sangEm
kabeeraachE maagEm chelE vine
meeraabhaayee saateem gEthOm vish pyaalaa
dhaamajeechaa jaalaa paadE vaara
pundaleekaa saateem ajuni thishtatha
thukaa maNEmaadha Dhanya Dhyaachee
Meaning,Oh Lord You look at only the devotion in heart and not the caste or creed. Yougave colour to the footwear along with Rydas. You weaved cloth with Kabir. Youate poison to protect Meera.You humble dyourself for Dhamaji. You strain yourlegs by standing on a brick for Pundaleeka. Are not all your leelas arewonderful!
Thukaram further says,
Ifyou sing His glory lying down The Lord Hari will come and stand in front ofyou. If you sing sitting He will listen by moving to and fro .If you singstanding He willdance around. If you sing while walking He will run to and fro .If we sing with a heart full of love He will come running to enjoy thesweetness of namsankeerthan.
Thukaramextolled namasnkeerthan to every one and told them that only love for the Lordis what required and not a melodious voice. He says, dhidhalaasusvara naaheemdhevEmnaaheem dhayaaviNa bukElaa vittala, meaning , the Lord wishes only forlove and not musical skill. This is similar to the words of Purandaradasa, whosaid , kELanO hari taaLanO thaaLa mELa gaLitthu prema villadha gaana, meaning,Will Har I listen and endure the music endowed with thaalam and accompanimentsbut without love?
Thukaramused to go to Pandaripur in the month of Adi and enjoyseeing the utsav ofPanduranga and sing and talk on the Lord. His fame reached the ears of Shivajiand he came to see him in disguise since he was being hunted by the moguls wheneverhe went out of his capital. He offered a plateful of gold coins to Thukaram whotrembled with aversion on seeing it. He said he did not desire anything exceptthe service of Panduranga and when He is there to look after him he does notneed anything from anybody. Thukaram said that if by any chance the Lordbecomes powerless and bankrupt then he will accept money.
Shivajisaid that Thukaram could use the money for good deeds, to which Thukaramreplied that it is better not to put one's foot in the mire rather than washing after doing so.Shivaji was so impressed with the namsankeertana of Thukaram and stayed there fortwo months. The spies of Aurangazeb came to know about his whereabouts and with2000soldiers surrounded the place and demanded that Shivaji must be handedover. The people there were terrified and Thukaram told them to continue theirnamaskeertan saying the Panduranga will do the needful. The Lord took the formof Shivaji and appeared on a horse in front of the soldiers and galloped awaywith them in chase. He led them to a deep forest and disappeared. The soldierswere stranded in the forest and died.
On another occasion Shivaji came to Thukaram disguisedas a merchant and begged him to accept a bag of rice. Thukaram, knowing him tobe the king, did not want to insult him and took it. He kept only that amountwhich was needed for one day and distributed the rest to the poor.
Thukaram used to go to Pandaripur in the month of Adi on suklapaksha ekadasi every year. Once he was not well and could not even walk and therefore was not able to go. He wrote 24 abhangs and gave it to the devotees going to Pandaripur requesting them to give it to Panduranga and ask Him why he had forsaken His devotee Thukaram. He told them, 'krpaaLu sajjanathumhee santhajana, aatavana thukeem dhyaalee paanduranga keem maajee saangaa kakuladhee,' meaning, " you sadhus who are mercy personified , please remind me to Panduranga ."
He says his only wish was to go to Pandaripur.
dhevaa hoyina bhikaaree
I beg for this only
pandareechaa vaarakari
to go to Pandaripur
haacha maajaa nEma dharma
My austerities and and ritual
mukheem vittalaache naama
is only to say the name of Vittala
hEchee maajee upaasnaa
All my worship
laagem santhaanchaa charaNaa
is to serve the feet of the sadhus.
aho thukhaamaNe dhevaa
Of Thukhaa who does not know anything else
hEchi maajee boLi dhevaa
This is the only service
Thus Thukharam shows that the greatest worship which pleases Hari is the chanting of His name always and serve His devotees. The Lord says that only devotion and satsang are the means of attaining Him. praayeNa bhakthiyogena sathsangena vinaa udDhava nopaayo vidhyathe(SB. 11.11.48) in His advice to Uddhava which is know as Uddhavagita.
Thukaram entreated Panduranga not to forsake him in the abhangs. He asked Panduranga to come to him a she could not go to Pandaripur.
He called,
baare paandurangaa kevhaam beta dheSee
Oh Panduranga, when will you come? When will I see you?
ThukhaahmaNe maajee puravaaveem aavadee
vegee gaalee uTee naaraayaNa
Don’t you know my mind and won’t you come in haste ?
The sadhus gave the abhangs of Thukha ram, which were actually letters of love , to the Lord in Pandaripur .Usually it is the divine mother who feels for Her children even if the Lord wishes to test them sometimes. Rukmini told Panduranga to go and see Thukharam because his suffering was intense and he may give up his life if the Lord did not go at once. But Panduranga said that there are so many devotees thronged to see Him in Pandaripur and hence how could He leave them and go. Rukinin suggested that he can send Garuda to bring Thuka to Pandaripur and Hence Thukaram received a reply from Panduranga that since He could not come at that time due to the devotees who have thronged there to see Him Thukaram could arrive in Pandaripur on the back of Garuda, whom He would be sending. Garuda promptly came to fetch Thukaram to Pandaripur.
Tukaram refused travel on his back when Garuda came to him as he thought it was an apachara. Then Panduranga had no other alternative but to go where Thukaram was, on the back of Garuda along with Rukmini. Thukaram himself has described this in one of his abhangs.
paila aale hari shanka chakra shobhe kareem
garudayetho patthkaare
naa bhee naa bhee mhaNe thvarem
" Hari is coming there with the chakra and shankha shining in His hands and seated on Garuda who comes flapping his wings and Hari is coming saying 'do not fear, do not fear' hastening towards me."
The Lord Panduranga was wearing the crown and earrings which outshone the light of the Sun, with His sky –blue hue, vyjayanthi garland and the yellow silk garment and Thukaram felt that the vaikunta itself came to him. Thukaram asked the Lord one boon, that is, the Lord should be near him whenever he sings His glory and the Lord accepted.
Vachana aikaa kamalaapathi
maj rangaachee vinanthee
karjodithOm kathakaaLee
aapana asaavEm javaLee
Then Thukaram asked Panduranga to sit on the gem studded simhasan because He had been standing on the brick for long and His feet would have been fatigued.
rathna jaditha simhaasana vareebaaisale aapaNa
Not only that.
Thukaram says that he would serve the Lord with Rukminee fanning Him with chamara and Thukharam himself holding His paduka.
Then the Lord said He was hungry. Al Thukaraam had with him were two sweet cakes (appam) which were two days old and very dry. But Panduranga relished it as though it was amrtha, proving what He said, pathram pushpamphalam thoyam yo me bhakthyaa prayachathi thadhaham bhakthyupahrtham aSnaami prayataathamanaH, Whatever you give Me, a leaf, a flower, a fruit or even water, with devotion , I will take it with pleasure.(BG.9.26)
It is said in the Mahabharatha that the Lord expects nothing more than poornakumbha,offering of a pot of water, , padhasevana, worshipping His feet and kusalaprasna, loving words.;.'anyath poorNodhapAm kumbhAth anyath pAdhAvvanejanAth anyath kuSalasampaSnAth na chECCHathi janArdhanah.
The Lord accepted the humble food in the house of Vidhura offered with bhakthi,bhakthyupahrthamm, and refused the grand feast offered by Duryodhana without love. Similarly He took by force and relished the flaked rice which Kuchela brought, but was ashamed to offer, and enjoyed the fruits given by Sabari with devotion.
Panduranga told Thukharam that he had the same satisfaction as when he ate in the house of Vidura. How can one understand the vaathsalya, souSeelaya ans soulabhya of the Lord except through the stories of devotees like this!
Thukaram lived only for 46 years and he went to pandaripur and no one has seen him afterwards. People say that he went to Vaikunta with is body. Within the shorts pan of his life he wrote numerous abhangs and established himself as one of the greatest devotees of Panduranga. Even to day he lives in his abhangs which are sung by the devotees all over the country.
I have not given the life story of Thukaram which you can read from Wikipedia or through Google search. I just want to highlight the love the saints had for the Lord.
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