Yach sathi kela hota attahaas

 

We had been out all day last Saturday to meet friends and family. When we got back home it was past 7 and dark outside. Within a few minutes of us being home we began to hear sounds of tabla. At first I thought it’s coming from neighbors one floor below us. But I was wrong. There seemed to be an open air concert in the neighborhood. After the tabla recital there began a classical vocal singing session. Several songs were familiar. Mostly devotional. One of these was a well known abhanga by Sant Tukaram. Listen to the original version sung by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.

Yach sathi kela hota attahas!

It is very difficult to convince any person, especially young people, why it is important to pursue spirituality or Parmarth (परमार्थ) from an early age. Yet, those who have sincerely followed a path of devotion, can attest to the fact that this path set them free from bondage in the world. The benefits of this path are known to them. 

Sant Tukaram is one true devotee of Vitthala and here in this abhanga he shares his feelings about the path he chose in life. His biography reflects a life that was strewn with extraordinary challenges and strife. He lost a wife and son to famine related starvation. He faced constant harassment from people who were jealous of his popularity, devotion and poetry. There were ongoing financial difficulties. Several times he confronted and rose over temptations of various kinds. An adversary once hired a prostitute with a plan to frame Tukaram. She made accusations against Tukaram claiming he had sought her services. When Tukaram remained composed and respectful towards her the woman realized her folly and confessed the truth. At another time Shivaji Maharaj sent a large gift basket to Sant Tukaram’s home. There were gold and silver coins and a lot of expensive jewelry items in that trunk. Due to his strong dispassion( vairagya)and deep devotion( bhakti) to God, Tukaram was able to turn away from these temptations. When his family was struggling with basic needs it wouldn’t have been easy to turn away wealth that was sent from the king without solicitation. But Tukaram saw possessions and wealth as evil and insisted the royal servants to take it back to the king. 

At one place he has said “ amha ghari dhan shabdaanchich ratne”. “The only wealth in my home is my words( his poetry)”. His only source for pleasure was chanting the name of God. All humanly pleasures he turned his back upon. He was known to be lost in meditation and devotional singing for hours and days at a time, forgetting food, water and even sleep. 

At one point after having lived  through such a strict regimented life he realized within himself how he was rewarded by boundless joy, satisfaction and liberation and therefore all the hardships seemed to have paid off. He breathed a sigh of relief and confessed that his insistence on a pure life, a life of devotion, to “see God” and enjoy liberation by the end of life. That the last day of life be sweet with satisfaction and grace, not bitter with regrets or remorse.

याजसाठी केला होता अट्टाहास। शेवटचा दिस गोड व्हावा।। धृ ।l

आता निश्चींतीने पावलो विसावा। खुंटलिया धावा तृषेचिया।। 1 ।।

With confidence he cites contentment and peace having gained perfect mastery over desires.

कवतुक वाटे जालिया वेचाचें। नाम मंगळाचे तेणें गुणें।। 2 ।। 

It is said that God chooses who takes the name of God and sings God’s praise. Blessed indeed is such a person.

Tukaram appropriately feels a sense of pride that he acquired a love towards chanting the auspicious name of God and being in the habit of praising God.

तुका म्हणे मुक्ति परिणिली तोवरी। आता दिवस चारी खेळीमेळी।। 3 ।।

While many people are seemingly wedded to their family, wealth, fame, power or other material possessions Tukaram Maharaj declares that he took liberation( mukti) as his consort. From that point, the rest of his life he foresees will be spent in joy and harmony. Strife and turmoil would be things of the past because he is no longer in bondage with the material world.

This abhang brings into focus the basic concepts of the warkari tradition. While yadnya as prescribed in the Vedas, as well as karma yoga, Raj yoga etc were considered means to attain salvation in earlier times the saints from the warkari clan prescribe a much simpler means for achieving the same goal in Kaliyuga, and that is chanting the name of God with devotion. One may argue that this is much too simple to be believed as an effective method. The catch is that whoever chants the Name of God with utmost devotion and full understanding of what God means, His Nirguna( formless) and Saguna( manifest form as Creation) and Sagun Sakar ( incarnations) versions, will merge into God and attain liberation. Duality will cease for such a person. He will conquer death even before the body falls away with the last breath. To understand God may take years of devotional practice. Simply chanting without this understanding may be a good start. But that’s not the end.

If simply chanting of the Holy Name can lead to liberation from the cycle of birth and death which is the highest spiritual achievement possible then why don’t people start chanting the Name with zeal?

Lack of adequate faith in God and the unshakable belief that the world you see with your eyes is all there is are the two main reasons why most people do not adopt the practice of chanting and praising God. Many educated people argue about the existence of God and His role and relevance in the workings of the universe.The ugly transformations in organized religions are another reason why intelligent minds feel discouraged or even repulsed by the discussion about God. If people who claim to be religious don’t display basic moral integrity, religion becomes a tough sell. Religion and God get bundled into a single parcel and often times, proverbially speaking, the baby gets thrown out with the bath water.

In the present day world there are multitudes of places of worship, multiple sects within every major religion and multiple spiritual gurus and their followers who are ever soliciting to grow their membership. It is easy to be trapped inside any of these in a bid to “ find God”. On the other hand there is a whole lot of spiritual literature easily accessible in various forms and independent study can be pursued if one is truly inclined. Once you acquire the basic understanding, more than likely you will be attracted to like minded individuals who are engaged in rational conversations and sincere study that gradually enhances your understanding of God. If that progress induces incremental humility and compassion and lesser talk of money, lesser greed and selfishness, lesser talk of personal achievements and virtues, it is a good sign that you are on the right path. The ultimate progress will be determined by how much effort you put in and the Grace of God Himself. 

While rational thinking is mostly an advantage, it can occasionally become an impediment and that should be kept in mind. I must admit from my personal experience that my “thinking brain” was the biggest hurdle in my acceptance of the value of chanting the Holy Name and praising God. The day I recognized the hurdle I crossed a major milestone in my spiritual journey. Having said that, Tukaram Maharaj’s Abhang described above carries much significance to me. 

Not only does it shed light on the importance Tukaram Maharaj placed on the practice of chanting, it also highlights the goal of the warkari sect which is attaining liberation or moksha/ mukti. The warkaris recognize Vitthal as an incarnation of God. This is the Sagun sakar form which embodies both Sagun and Nirgun aspects of God. Nirgun aspect is devoid of both Sagun and Sagun Sakar. Sagun Ishwar includes creation plus incarnations of God. By recognizing Sagun Sakar the warkaris recognize both Nirgun ( unmanifest, formless) and Sagun( manifest) God. They make no distinction between the two. Their philosophy conforms with the teachings of the Vedas. Sampraday is not an opinion expressed by some founder or prophet.  Warkari way of life is considered a sampraday or school of thought that is beginningless. It can’t be dated. It was popularized by the saints of the thirteenth through 17th centuries. They attracted rural, illiterate, simple people to the path of devotion and democratized the option for spiritual liberation through simple means. Sincerity and purity of mind counts more than literacy and intellect to understand God. The information about the nature of God that was contained in the Vedas and other scriptures was previously reserved for the priest class. The saints unlocked the treasury for every man irrespective of gender and social rank. Today thanks to their early intervention and the emergence of present day technology everything one needs to know to understand God is accessible to anyone. Yet for reasons discussed above and other unknown reasons hardly a fraction of the human race gets drawn to understand God. The spiritual conclusion is that our true self is identical with God. By that logic, until and unless a human being understands God, he ( or she) doesn’t know himself ( or herself). A large portion of our race lives and dies without knowing who we really are. And to do so when all the means are available to us is indeed ironic and tragic. We consider ourselves superior to other species but if we look closely we live and die as ignorant as them. They do not have access to the means for liberation like we do. Yet when we lack inclination to use our unique abilities, it is as good as a blind man facing a rainbow or a deaf man at a symphony. 

The likes of Sant Tukaram, as seen in the abhang above, had tasted the sweet nectar of moksha even while still in the mortal life. For them, the day they got a taste of moksha, the heart and soul identification with God, that was the last day of their individual lives. The very purpose of their lives was achieved and they could experience the fulfillment. 

याजसाठी केला होता अट्टाहास। शेवटचा दिस गोड व्हावा।। 

“I was stubborn all life long just so that the last day of my existence would be sweet.”

 Last day did not imply last breath. Last day referred to end of existence in duality. The physical body was intact yet had no personal ambitions to fulfill. It was merely a vehicle to achieve moksha. Having achieved that goal now there was not even the ambition for them to create their own sect or legacy. They considered themselves merely as interim links in an eternal chain of the sampradaya. If anything there was just a very pure and simple desire in their hearts that others may experience what they have known. That others see the light at the end of the tunnel. At a personal level their life was a playground filled with sheer joy. If anything could add to that joy that would be to see more people lean towards moksha. But that was entirely optional. They had become oceans where no amount of rain or other source like a river could make them any greater. They had nothing to gain, nothing to lose. 

तुका म्हणे मुक्ति परिणिली तोवरी। आता दिवस चारी खेळीमेळी।।

Saree is a weave from Assam in natural indigo dyed eri silk The warp has mill spun eri and weft has hand spun eri.