By the 16th century, doors to spirituality was shut to the common man in Maharashtra. The Mughals had already ransacked holy places. Custodians of our philosophy, the Brahmins, zealously hid this wealth of knowledge from the masses. Sanskrit the language of our scriptures was known to an elite few. Rituals that supposedly gained admission into the inner sanctum of God were unaffordable for the ordinary man. At this this juncture Vaishnavism had its birth in Bharat. Bhakti yoga or the yoga of Devotion rose in splendour. From the ranks of the common man then appeared radiant souls. They flung open these doors for any desirous ones to follow. Sant Gyanesvar opened the Bhagavad Geeta with his Gyaneshvari in Marathi. Then followed Namdev and Eknath. With his melodic abhangs that contain "indestructible truths" Gyanba Tukaram affixed the golden kalash to the Temple of Bhakti and the Varkari Sampradaya of Maharashtra. This kalash was placed on behalf of those that sow and reap the grain, that hammer and chisel away the leather, that pound the pulses, that lay the bricks for a dwelling, that sweep the dust away. To these folks the dry language of Advaita where Negation not Affirmation, where Oneness not Multiplicity where sterile Acute Reasoning not Living Life in Full was stressed, had no relevance . Service at the feet of a personal God was more meaningful than Knowledge of Self and Soul. To them Tukaram's songs made sense when he said-

Nako brhmagyaan aathma sthitthi bhaava
Mee bhaktha thu deva aisey karee.
Daavee* roop maja gopikaa ramana.
Teyvu* dey charanaavaree maatthaa.

His devotion to the deity at Pandharpur was unique. Vittala was his real family, therefore he would affectionately call him Ba or Ayi. His songs have the flavour of simple saguna upasana. For that reason the farmer, the housewife, the cobbler and the tailor could sing these as they toiled.

His dependency on the Lord was total, not tempered by circumstances. He was fully aware of the wave produced by the ocean, the Creator is connected yet different from the Created. In the song Thu maajhey maavulee mey thujhey leynkaru…. he implores the Mother not to distance the baby. The baby needs to know that the Mother is there for him. In the second stanza he shows desperat need for divine nourishment that the calf feels. The milkman of life should not cheat him of that. The young fawn needs guidance in its travels therefore that thread of guidance should not be broken. The human being as he weaves in and out of life, experiences tremendous fragility. Tukaram asks for the substratum of hay so that the egg may hatch. In his explorations it is possible that man may step into danger. Tukaram begs his Vittala to protect him with the vigilant eye of the tortoise over its young. Thus will he be saved from sinking into the bondage of sansaar.

Typical of the Varkari sampradaya where samaj seva (service to the community) and hari sankirtan (group worship through music) was the Way, Tukaram made it his call to work for group enlightenment rather than just for himself. In that sense he was very much a bodhisattva.

I wind up the thread and release the kite to the sky.
I have pawned myself to preserve my selfhood.
My debt is secure with interest.
Where there is seed there will the sprout be.
Preserving its capacity for growth.
Tuka says I serve with certainty that
God is not other than me.

He proved to the world with his own life that one does not need to abandon the life of a householder to climb to the highest rung of the spiritual ladder. The caliber of this saint was that of one ever ready for " jyoti sey jyot milana". In other words the individual, the jiva was enlightened enough to merge with the Divine Light, which he indeed concretized.

The great lord who gave the Geeta is the familiar,approachable, the covetable, beautiful Vittala of Tukaram. While many resort to the Agamas and Nigamas, Tukaram finds Vittala as the sole foundation for all sources of spiritual knowledge. The son of Nandagopa , a puranic reference is indeed the Paramatman ,the ultimate of Advaita, for the saint. The progenitor of the Universe can be brought down, through the marvels of bhakti, as one who would call Yasoda as Mother. All this is possible because Panduranga alone features in his thoughts and during meditation. Panduranga is the thread that connects this saint through his waking and sleeping states.

1. Devotees reveal the glory of God just as gold reveals the brilliance of a gem.
2. Understanding the Vedas is difficult even for scholars. Nama japa, reciting the names of God, on the other hand is so easy. Nama japa therefore is more glorious than the Vedas.
3. By making it a habit to chant names- divine we are simply reminding ourselves of our pure heritage. The Divine Pair common to all creation are our real parents.
4. If the mind has thoughts of the Husband of Lakshmi, why have such a mind share space with unnecessary thoughts?
5. Fire is good to ward off the cold, yet we must not embrace it. The cobra is worshipped yet we better not touch it. If all men are habitations of God then must we not fall to everyones' feet? That being the case, learn to love and pray from the distance of respect.
   Stay in awe of the Lord.
6. You can never reach the Goal Divine by yourself. For running away from God like a coward you will certainly run into difficulties. Getting consumed by one's courage means you will fall from great heights. Depending solely on your intellect you are bound to remain dissatisfied. Receive His grace therefore through nama japa, if you wish to reach the Goal.
7. Make nama japa your home. Make nama japa your treasury. Take nama japa as a challenge to death and limitations of time. You do not even need to rinse your mouth to taste the sweetness of the names of the Lord.

1. Make God the Center of your life. Walk the Path of Love. Serve mankind and thus see God in all.
2. Cast away one's clothes of traditions that one has inherited for often those can bind you from growing in Love of God.
3. He did not favour elaborate rituals, displays of asceticism and pre-occupation with austerities. He would say -even dogs come in saffron colour and bears have matted fur. If living in caves is being spiritual then rats do who inhabit caves must be doing sadhana.
4. He was opposed to the acquiring of siddhis as these were obstructions to authentic sadhana.
5. Faith in Providence was crucial to sadhana. He believed that He who facilitates the milk from the breast for the infant and the one permits the bursting of foliage from the branches will certainly take care of me.
6. Most important of all was the Privilege of being a Bhakta and to exercise in life, nama japa. He would say that even God does not know the value of his name. Even God is not aware of the power of his name. How can he be ? The lotus cannot smell its own fragrance, only the bee can. The cow knows not the sweetness of its milk, only the calf can. The oyster knows not the value of its pearl, only the jeweler can.

Tukaram was a boatman. His rowing was done with his kirtans. His boat was devotion as he practiced day in and day out. In his group sankirtanas that he held at various places he willingly encouraged passengers to climb into his boat. He would ferry them across the River of Life.

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