Saint Tuka's Abhangs

[Rushikesh K. Joshi]

Greetings from Joshi,

Saint Tuka lived in a Maharashtra town of Dehu.
His contemporaries were Samarth Ramdas and Shivaji Maharaj.
Tukaram, who refers to himself as Tuka, got mantrDiksha from a saint
called Babaji, about whom nothing is known. The mantra was "Ram Krishn Hari".
Tuka wrote down everything that he experienced in the form of verses called
"Abhang". Abhang means without a break.

Tuka's abhangs are read and sung regularly in the Maharashtra tradition of
devotion. They are a marvel. They unfold his experiences, one after the other.
There are a few thousand Abhangs. The language is Marathi.

The story goes that Tuka went to Vaikuntha with body.

A crude translation of the second Abhang in a set of 12 Abhangs that
were found after his Nirvan is given here. Kindly excuse me for my inability
of expression.


        Always be on the spiritual path
        Do not place your feet on a wrong way

        If one does enter a wrong way
        And someone pulls him out from it
        The person who pulls him is a Jnani

        He is the real Jnani
        Who saves others,
        Surrender yourself to him
        from time to time

        He has saved himself,
        Is not a surprise.
        He will elevate
        The generations of all

        What is the fruit of surrendering (to him) ?
        Tuka says, generations are salvaged !

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Hari Om Tatsat