The Kirtan of Sant Tukaram Part 1 / Capt. Arun Karkare
Message from the Author:
I hope and pray that these spiritual extracts will help you all to live in peace , harmony and happiness within this world with all its turmoil , daily pressures of work and rigors of life and dealings with other human beings . The Original verse is in Marathi Language. I will be re-interpriting Sant Tukaram’s verse in English – Captain Arun Karkare
At the outset, I would like to explain some nomenclatures used in Kiratan
“Kirtan“ is combination of two words; Kir means darkness and Tan means Human mind &Body.
Kirtan is for removing the darkness in minds of we mortals so that we can feel and see God (if one is pure enough in his/her thoughts and deeds – Like Dyneshwar , Tukaram , Namdev , Sai baba-Shirdi or Mirabai many other saints) .
Bhajan is a devotional song carrying the message of God and is generally sung in musical ragas by a Bhajan mandali (trained group ) followed by a congregation of devotees in the place of worship. Tukaram would go from village to village and sing Vitthal Bajans to convey the message from Geeta and Dyneshwari.
Abhangs were written by Dyneshwar in simple words which carried deep knowledge for we mortals as to how to reach out to God and ultimately attend Moksha/ Nirvana( State where a Soul finally escapes Birth/Death cycle and a place at the feet of the Lord..
Dohe are the two liners written by Tukaram in very simple way in day to day used Marathi-language of his time . They carried the same message as given by Saint Dyneshawar but were far easier to read , sing and adopt in life. The skill of Tukaram was absolutely par excellance and are still in vogue and practice even after 500 years.
“ Sukha peksha Samadhan reshtha ahe”
Instead of worldly pleasures ,Satisfaction is of greater value. We need to be satisfied with our karma or whatever we do good.
“ Mann Sudhi karta ,Acharan changale pahije”
For achieving purity of Mind ,our Behavior should be good.
“Aachar va Vichar he permodharm ahe”.
Deeds & Thoughts are ultimate religions we need to adopt.
“ Deva kade prarthana” “ Tuza Visarana Vavha Deva”
Ultimate prayer to Lord Vittahal ,” Let me not forget for ever during my life journey”
“Chukichi teen karne”
We mortals commit mistakes due to following three reasons.
1. We all are born in the “KaliYug” the worst period of life cycle
2. Our bad deeds , mistakes , behavior etc is sum total of +/- of our past ( last life)so we are forced by those karmas to do good/bad deeds . It simply means that during present life we suffer or be happy according to our past life . Therefore, all our actions in present life should be towards doing all the good deeds that we can so that our deficit of bad past is reduced progressively and ultimately our soul attends MOKSHA.
3. The third reason being utterly selfish non -caring to others
Sant Tukaram did self retrospection on these 3 reasons and wrote his “ABHANGS “ to address them and how to get rid of it.
Finally , He said “ It is never too late to bow down before Vitthal and confess your wrongs and start a new chapter of pure goodness in life that will surely lead you to happiness and satisfaction .The great Saint was convinced that Happiness has to live with Satisfaction ( Sukh & Samadhan )
Vitthal is the name for the lord given by the great saint Tukaram
Dhul aapalya cheheryawer aasate purantu Manus aarasa saf karat asato.
It means Dust is on our face but the we try to clean the mirror ! It is irony and tragedy of our life. When we are wrong we pretend we are right !
“Kalanahi nahi ha upai”
Ignorance or not knowing is a bliss because it leads you to the ultimate remedy that helps eradicate the fault or the misery etc.
“Changla kiti he aapan sangto pun wite kiti he sangat nahi”
We only tell and share good &right about us but never tell ,regret nor confess our wrong doings. So to elevate our morals and quality of life we need to accept our shortcomings , mistakes , bad things done to others so that Vitthal will be able to forgive you and show you the way forward.
Aapalyatelay Aavagun Samajalay pahijay
We must do retrospection and search for our faults and shortcomings and get rid of them. Then only we will be able up lift our soul to higher level to perform good karmas that will lead you to Moksha ultimate goal of every SOUL .
Jugache Dosh mojanaypecsha aapale Dosh moja
Instead of finding and counting faults & shortcomings of others do the your self audit of the same .
Tumhi Gelya Janma che Chitra aaha.
You are the image of the last life . The quality of your present life depends upon the karmas of last life . That is why we need to keep doing good karmas and keep improving our lot to reduce birth/ death cycles to the minimum to attend Mokha. This is the essence of life said Dyneshwarmaharaj.
“Chuka parat naka karu”
Never ever repeat your mistakes , wrongs or bad deeds . This will only happen when you truly surrender your trust at his feet Vitthal . Don’t let HIM down again. For sure He too will never let you down
Jeewanatil Parivartan
“Change “ is a powerful tool for betterment of our lives . Try to change things for better for yourself and people around you and the surroundings too. God has given all the faculties, abilities and disciplines to change for better life for peace and happiness.
Paschatap
REMORSE is a great quality and a tool that helps us to build new foundation of life which in turn brings calm ,peace ,happiness and finally the satisfaction one craves for. Our remorse must be surrendered at the feet of Vittal so that He can bless you .
Avaga Eka Rang Zala.
There are rainbow colors and they appear only in sky when sunlight is split but when we surrender to God there is only one color “You &HIM “
Keleya Chuka Visara, Deva war Vishwas Thewa.
Forget & Forgive your and other’s mistakes and bad deeds and start fresh in your present life leaving entire future in HIS hands . Do your daily Karmas dedicating it all to God including the fruits of your work and labor.
Prapanch he eka oze ahe.
Our daily family life with its commitments towards every member of the household
( Grandparents, father , mother, wife , children , then siblings plus extended relationships as well as close friends etc add continuous pressures on our mind and body too. These strains and stresses form what is called in Hindu Phylosophy “ PRAPANCH’ which means INSIDUOUS or treacherous situations that continuously distract our mind and body from peace , tranquility and happiness . The satisfaction element too is seriously
Compromised . The remedy recommended by Tukaram maharaj is simple and doable.
“ Do all your duties and discharge your responsibilities towards all dear near ones with outcome/result or reactions as per will of the God. You only please God and not the mortals to whom you are only duty bound during your or their lifetimes! Leave the burden ,pains , frustrations etc to God and trust HIM that it will be handled by him . Do your karma towards yourself and others with smile, honesty and sincerity. That si the secret of satisfaction and happiness says Tukaram
Durachar wadhala aahe.
Today , the crimes, rapes in society , murders , cruelty towards animals and birds , Destruction of mother Nature etc have surpassed all the acceptable limits. Why? Because Good people are standing spectators and society has become very selfish .We need to rise, react and rightly respond to stop it all to protect all creations of the God.
Vitthal is the identity for devotees given by the great saint Tukaram
‘Fakt Garajecha Paisa camawa”
Earn according to your and family needs .Anything wealth in excess is destructive and non productive to the earner as it increases his /her lust , superficial needs and results in bad /wrong use of the money . It is a very well known fact that the wealthy people think they can buy out the Lord Almighty too. We waste our precious life years in wrong and selfish activities. Utilize excess wealth in charity and good work for the humanity and that is true worship of Vitthal.
Dyneshwar and Tukaram Abhanga he satashe varsha pasun aahet.
The two liner sayings of Saints Dyneshwar and Tukaram Maharaj have survived 750 years of history . They have been guiding the society in India for avery long time and that is why Indian culture have survived 450 years of slavery under the Moguls and British ,French and Portuguese colonial powers. The sayings are time tested and hence doable and can be adopted by anyone who believes in them.
Tatvadyan he jeevanche gudh ahe. Te Tumhi visaru naka.
Live in any part of the world but while doing your karma there ,do not forget the sayings of these two saints . Practice them in your daily life . Do not be a robot while living in this materialistic world because when you came in this world you had empty hands and when you go away you will have empty hands then too.
Karta va Karvita ha Vitthal ahe.
There has to be a creator of this great Universe , solar system , life , water , air , light , fire and means to survive and sustain life. We need to believe in creator for sure. Some say we don’t see that creator so how can we believe ! We breathe Air to survive but we can’t see it yet we are very sure of its existence. Corona -19 can’t be seen yet the whole world is well aware of its existence. Who created the virus and for what reason ? I guess God’s and Mother Nature’s annoyance of humanity and its behavior!
Andha vishwas naka theu
Never have or create blind faith in the name of God and also do not allow the Technology to overwhelm your faith or cloud your mind or shake your faith in time tested basic principles of simple living and high thinking to do good karmas .
Fakt Swatala Badla
Only try and change yourself for better and do not waste precious life time to change others. !
Story of Thomas Edison
The great scientist was travelling in a train . Another passenger sitting in the same compartment observed that Edison was reading Bible. He asked Edison “ Sir do you believe in God? Edison just smiled and continued his reading . The two exchanged their visiting cards before parting. The stranger noted from the card the identity of the great man and decided to call at his laboratory with a surprise visit . Edison received the stranger at the gate . The visitor was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the magnificent building. He asked “Sir Is this building made by you “? Edison politely replied “No”. Both walked in the sprawling laboratory crowded with curious and intricate equipments of the experiments being done by the great scientist . The stranger once again quarried “Sir Is the laboratory yours? Edison replied” No”. By now the visitor was totally perplexed with the replies of Edison and He said “ There has to be a builder and an owner of this vast set up! Edison certainly “ God Almighty is the owner of all this and I am a temporary worker scientist entrusted with research work for the benefit of humanity at large. ! The stranger went away with full understanding as to Why Edison was reading the book of God in his spare time while travelling on the train.
Story of Padamashri –Vikram Sarabhai
( Well honored & renowned Scientist of India )
Viram Sarabhai used to read “Geeta “ every morning, during sunrise, by sitting on the banks of the river near his place of work. One day a stranger( a tech savvy young man ) walked past the great man and quipped “ Hi ! Man, forget Geeta it is science & technology that runs our lives “. Do not waste your precious time in this book knowledge . Viram ji looked at him said “ I believe in Geeta “’ . The stranger just smiled and went away and stood at a short distance in total disbelief as he saw a special car approaching under police escort . The car stopped in front of Vikram Sarabhai . A guard came saluted the scientist and ceremoniously took the Geeta from Vikramji and wrapped it in a red cloth and the guard put it in the car . The car under police escort drove away towards the residence of the great scientist. The stranger followed the car on his bike but he also noticed that Vikramji walking slowly back towards his home. The car stopped at the big sprawling bungalow (official residence) of Vikram Sarabhai . The Geeta was taken inside with great reverence by a Pandit. The stranger waited for the man slowly walking towards the same house. Now the stranger was well aware that the man he saw on the river bank was VS himself . He was so overwhelmed that he got of his motorcycle and fell at the feet of VS and said “ Sir I am sorry for my act “. The saintly scientist simply said “ Geeta is ultimate knowledge “ I am doing my karma only .
Dyneshwar and Tukarm were fully convinced through their prayers that we mortals are what our parent were . The good karmas of our past Janama( past life)allows us to choose a good womb which in turn allows us to live our present life in a good way. The parents of Dyneshwar were very good people in all walks of life but suffered at the hands of ignorant and bad society .Yet they gave birth to four children( Neevrithinath, Dyneshwar , Sopan and Mukta bai) who eventually became most worshipped saints of their times and their still influence us and help better our spiritual and emotional state. It means parents have to be pure in mind and deeds to give births to good human beings. Parents can bring and raise Ram or Ravan according to their own karmas .
GOODNESS AS UNDERSTOOD & DEFINED BY DYNESHWAR AND TUKARAM
The Hindi word ‘HEETH’ means goodness. The two great saints defined it as follows,
“Doing selfless work for the Humanity , Society , Country and preservation of Mother nature is defined as Heeth”
KARMA & ITS FRUITS
Dyneshwar and Tukaram fully understood and followed Lord Krishna’s message that is “Do your Karma and leave the fruits & final result in the hands of God. We may do a karma ( deed)with good intensions but result may not be good but it may happen so that we may do a bad karma ( deed)and result may be unexpectedly good!
Following stories will perhaps convince you as to how true the saying is!
Story No. 1
A beggar stood on the pavement under a multistoried building and kept shouting for some alms, looking upwards towards the high-rise floor flats. A lady from 3rd floor threw Rs 10 coin towards him altering him well in advance to catch it. She was wanting give some money to the needy person. ( a good deed indeed)but what happened next shocked her. The beggar grossly misjudged the fall of the coin and hurt his eye so badly that he lost his eyesight!
The moral of the story is clear . Karma was good and well intended but the result was totally unexpected and perhaps unwarranted too. God’ will was that beggar was due to lose his eye sight as per his destiny .
Story No. 2
A man was sitting in a public garden and was eating an apple . A beggar came and stood near him and asked for some food. The man was upset at the beggar’s presence at that time. In sheer anger he threw the half eaten apple at the beggar’s face but apparently beggar was fully alert to catch it ! He caught the apple like an expert cricket fielder and walked way happily munching the fruit.
The moral of the story is again very clear . Karma was bad and ill intended but the result was totally unexpected but good too. God’ will was that hungry beggar was due to get that half eaten apple as his share as per his destiny .
Story No. 3
A frail and weak looking man begged for some money to a stranger waiting at the bus stand .The stranger took pity and gave the Rs 50/- and said “ Go and have some snacks .” The man thanked him but then what happened shook the stranger completely. The beggar was actually an alcoholic who simply walked inside the near- by pub for a drink!
By now ,the moral of the story must be very clear to you.. Karma was good and well intended but the result was totally unexpected and very bad too. God’ will was that hungry beggar will fall victim to his bad habit as per his destiny .
In short we all should do our karmas and leave the final result ( fruit) to GOD only.
Power of the word “VITTHAL”
Believe it or not , it is true that there is an immense strength in this beautiful word “VITTHAL . It was felt by and eventually proven by Saint Dyneshwar 700 years, and similarly experienced by Tukaram ,Namdev and Eknath maharaj. But very recently , a group of doctors who are great followers of ‘Vitthal tried a novel experiment on their patients ( 10 nos )while treating them for high BP ailment. They divided them in two groups of ( 5 nos)and asked one group to recite the word ‘VIITHAL’ for 10 minutes every morning for a week during their meditation period and the other group was told to do their meditation in normal fashion without reciting the word . The doctors kept the records of BP readings of all the patients who were part of the experiment .
The comparison of BP records astonished the doctors! Those who recited had a 25% drop in their BP .The experiment was repeated on the other group who had not recited and the result was almost the same! Just to add to this fact , is another classical example ;every year on the auspicious day of Ashadhi Ekadashi thousands of Warkaries of different age groups from 10 yrs to 80 yrs ( Devotees of Viithal)walk down a distance of 200kms doing Pandharpur Yatra simply chanting “ Jai hari Vitthal “ The Yatra is supported by the Government of Mahrashtra for supply of food , water and medical aid etc. The sheer power of the word “ Vitthal “carries the devotees to their destination ‘Vitthal mandir at Pandharpur. The moral of this story is that faith can move mountains.
OBLIGATIONS & DUTIES OF CHILDREN TOWARDS THEIR PARENTS.
Dyneshwar and Tukarm are two great saints who enlightened the humanity about the importance of obligations and duties of children towards their parents. Dyneshwar Maharaj was totally convinced that our souls are born to different parents according to our karmas of the past life . With +/- ratio of Good and Bad Karmas we get our present life parents. And it is here that we must all understand our obligations and duties towards our parents( Janmadatas).
In today’s world ,it is absolutely imperative for all children to follow the great saint’s message, “Matru dev Bhav, Pitrudevdev bhav”. We are what our parents are or were but children’s responsibilities and role towards parents remain unchanged. We need to accept their good karmas and reject their bad karmas . Following story may help to clarify the point of view being expressed here;
A good natured but foul mouthed administrative officer in government service had a bad habit of very frequently using the word “Haramkhor”( Bastard) while generally addressing his staff and juniors. His only son ( 5yrs ) got used to hearing this word and stared using it freely while he used to play with his friends. One day the child was playing a game with his friends in which he was posing as a conductor /ticketchecker of Bus. “ those Haramkhors who want to get down at Andheri stop ,Be ready . Then again he said “ those Harmkhors who do not have tickets will be fined Rs 200/- “ Thus this went on for awhile and the boy’s father who was hearing got up in disgust and shouted “ Stop using this bad word “ The boy sheepishly replied Papa” I thought every other person must be addressed so as I have heard you using this word so frequently!We need to reject bad from parents and retain good for ever during our life time. It is obvious therefore ,that if we have more +,positive and good in us it is due to our parent’s DNA.
DEFINITION OF BEING EDUCATED
Dyneshwar and Tukaram defined what is the true meaning of “Being educated”. Those who do good karmas for the Society, Humanity , Country and Mother nature and care for flora, fauna and all types of life created by God are truly educated.
BLOOD has been analyzed, classified and stored safely for transfusion but I wonder if it will be ever produced in the laboratory by Man ! Because Blood is life and Life is God –Vitthal
More About The Author:
Capt. Arun Karkare, was honored with VARUNA AWARDS. The National Maritime Day Celebrations (Central) Committee institutes its highest national award to recognize and honor persons for their sustained and outstanding contribution to the Indian Maritime Sector.
Also Read Part 2:
https://onevorld.org/2021/01/13/the-kirtan-of-sant-tukaram-part-2-capt-arun-karkare/
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