Tukaram. (1598–1650) was a poet and saint associated with the Varkari Panth, a religious order dedicated to the worship of the deity Vithoba at his temple in Pandharpur, Maharashtra.
Tukaram was a shudra (one of four primary socioeconomic
divisions in ancient Hinduism, with the shudras being the lowest and least
prominent) born in the little town of Dehu, where his father was a modest
trader, according to legend.
Tukaram continued to work at the family business, which
finally collapsed due to his lack of interest in the outside world.
Instead, he desired the life of a renunciant, in which he
could devote himself entirely to God.
He, like many other bhakti saints, is said to have been
persecuted by traditionalist brahmins who were concerned that a person of his
humble standing might achieve spiritual glory.
He is best known for the songs known as abhangs, which are
still widely sung in Maharashtra despite his lack of education.
He had numerous pupils, including the poet-saint Bahina Bai,
and legend has it that he was transported to heaven on a chariot of fire at the
end of his life.
G. A. Deleury's The Cult of Vithoba was published in 1960,
and Justin E. Abbott's The Life of Tukaram was published in 1980.
