Spiritual Awakenings

The largest translation of his poetry in English is, The Poems of Tukarama by J. Nelson Fraser, published in Delhi by Motilal Banarsidass Books. This is from a section titled, "Remonstrations With God."

We are lost in a wood of anxiety: why do you still delay? Come, O Vitthala [God], our strength is spent in entreaties. Why do you not fear disgrace, thus abandoning your own children?

We are full of anxious longing: we have laid hold of God, but he seems far off.

I have not disobeyed any voice of authority: why has Narayana [God] left me? With undoubting mind I beseech him, for I have not found the peace that knows no care.

It is not right that you should forget your servants; for there is perfect justice at your feet. Tuka says, 'You are not ashamed, though we are sinking in the gulf of anguish!

The Soul of Tukarama: Saint of Maharashtra

By James Bean Copyright March 2005

Let me meet people of my own kind,
so that I may be satisfied. My mind
pants to meet those who love God.
Mere contact with the sandalwood
tree, and plants all around emanate
the same aroma. Likewise have I
embraced the feet of Sants [Saints],
and my separateness is extinguished.

* Another Important Spiritual Practice for Tukarama is the Chanting of Various Names of God (Simran), Remembering God by Repeating His Name

He who utters the Name of God while walking,
gets the merit of a sacrifice at every step.
Blessed in his body. It is itself a place of
pilgrimage. He who utters the Name of God
without ceasing receives liberation while
living.

* The Devotee Becomes God By Repeating-Merging in God's Name

Vitthala Naam Mukti

Can one be entangled in the mire of
Illusion
When the Name of the Lord is constantly
on his lips?

One who ceaselessly meditates on Him,
While walking, talking, eating or sleeping,
While engaged in worldly duties,
The Lord is with him at all times.

Repeat constantly the Name of the Lord,
And know that devotion is indispensable
for deliverance.
Thus the devotee becomes the Lord
Himself,
And thus has the Lord become Tuka.

(Tukaram - Saint of Maharashtra, RS Books)

Infinite bliss has filled my entire being,
the stream of love divine flows freely and
I sing the Lord's Name unceasingly. I lead
a life eternal that cannot ever ebb. I
repeat ever and again the Name of the Lord;
to me, this shore of the ocean of life and
the other one [eternity], are truly one and
the same.

(Tukaram - Saint of Maharashtra, RS Books)

* Tukarama, Speaking from the Ecstasy of Mystic Contemplation

I have found a Sea of Love, an inexhaustible flood;
I have opened a treasure of spiritual knowledge,
it diffuses the lustre of a million suns,
arisen in thy worshipper's souls.

The same Tuka, who earlier in life composed many candid and resentful prayers, lamenting over famine and misfortune, ended up being one of India's greatest poet-mystics and Saints.

The book Tukaram - Saint of Maharashtra, published by RS Books, makes available many of his mystical compositions pertaining to the experience of Inner Light, the Sound Current and the Higher Planes.

Darkness flees before the Sun

I penetrated the Eye Center and perceived
the Light within.
Darkness has vanished,
And the sun has burst forth
in full splendor.

So long as the soul knows not itself,
The brilliance of the sun cannot be seen.

Says Tuka, I see my true self and the Lord
Pervade the whole creation as one effulgence

Inner Experience - The Door Within

Through the Eye, my vision has risen to
Daswandwar,
And my soul has cast off its coverings.

Firmly established at the Tenth Door,
I adore my Master's Radiant Form,
which I recognize by His grace.

The bubble of illusion has been pricked,
The Almighty, Merciful Lord has revealed
Himself.

In the blissful state of fulfillment,
Tuka, without hands, clings to His feet.

The Sound Current or Music of the Creator

Tuka is absorbed in the surging wave
of Sound Divine;
Its resplendence spreads through his
innermost being.
The Lord has made His home in me,
The lamp of eternal Light has been
kindled.
The all-pervading Sound, O Tuka, is
the Lord Himself.

* Another composition of Tuka pertaining to poeple who mislead others by posing as enlightened.

"Like pipes carved out of carrots are these newly wise men
They cram but accumulate only the Ego
Their knowledge is as limited as their pride is great
Tuka says, such hypocrites should be beaten with shoes."

* A prayer longing for Govinda

Govinda, Govinda.
My mind is obsessed by the name Govinda.
My whole body has become Govinda.
There is no difference now between me and Govinda.
My mind is so full of Joy
That my eyes are filled with tears of Love.
Tuka says "In pain, the insect
Has transformed itself."