Tukaram (Marathi pronunciation: [t̪ukaːɾam]), also known as Tuka, Tukobaraya, and Tukoba, was a Hindu Marathi saint of the Warkari Sampradaya who lived in the 17th century. deal with social reform.
Biography
Early life
Tukaram was born in the modern-day Maharashtra state of India. His complete name was Tukaram Bolhoba Ambile.
thumb|Tukaram is said to have left for [[Vaikuntha, abode of Vishnu (identified with Vithoba) at the end of his earthly life.]]
He was initiated by Mahavatar Babaji also known as Kriya babaji and was given the Ram-Krishna-Hari Mantra.He spent most of his later years in devotional worship, community kirtans (group prayers with singing) and composing Abhanga poetry.
Tukaram pointed out social injustices, caste hierarchy, and the misconduct of certain religious leaders through his and . As a result, he faced opposition from various sections of society. One of his main detractors was Mambaji Gosavi, who ran a (monastic establishment) in Dehu and had several followers. Eleanor Zelliot notes that poets from the Bhakti movement, including Tukaram, significantly influenced Shivaji’s rise to power.
Late 20th-century scholarship of Tukaram, and translations of his Abhanga poem, affirm his pantheistic Vedantic view. Tukaram's Abhanga 2877, as translated by Shri Gurudev Ranade of Nimbal states, for example, "The Vedanta has said that the whole universe is filled by God. All sciences have proclaimed that God has filled the whole world. The Puranas have unmistakably taught the universal immanence of God. The sants have told us that the world is filled by God. Tuka indeed is playing in the world uncontaminated by it like the Sun which stands absolutely transcendent".
Scholars note the often discussed controversy, particularly among Marathi people, whether Tukaram subscribed to the monistic Vedanta philosophy of Adi Shankara. Bhandarkar notes that Abhanga 300, 1992 and 2482 attributed to Tukaram are in style and philosophy of Adi Shankara:
Kirtan
Tukaram encouraged kirtan as a music imbued, community-oriented group singing and dancing form of bhakti.
Social reforms
thumb|Commemorative Indian stamp depicting Tukaram (2002)
Tukaram accepted disciples and devotees without discriminating on the basis of gender. One of his celebrated devotees was Bahina Bai, a Brahmin woman, who faced anger and abuse of her husband when she chose Bhakti marga and Tukaram as her guru.
Tukaram taught, states Ranade, that "pride of caste never made any man holy", "the Vedas and Shastras have said that for the service of God, castes do not matter", "castes do not matter, it is God's name that matters", and "an outcast who loves the Name of God is verily a Brahmin; in him have tranquility, forbearance, compassion and courage made their home". However, early 20th century scholars questioned whether Tukaram himself observed caste when his daughters from his second wife married men of their own caste.
David Lorenzen states that the acceptance, efforts and reform role of Tukaram in the Varakari-sampraday follows the diverse caste and gender distributions found in Bhakti movements across India.
Literary works
thumb|Gatha temple in [[Dehu, near Pune Maharashtra, is one of two local temples that mark the legacy of Tukaram. His poetry is carved on its wall.]]
Tukaram composed Abhanga poetry, a Marathi genre of literature which is metrical (traditionally the ovi meter), simple, direct, and it fuses folk stories with deeper spiritual themes.
Tukaram's work is known for informal verses of rapturous abandon in folksy style, composed in vernacular language, in contrast to his predecessors such as Dnyandeva or Namdev known for combining similar depth of thought with a grace of style. Also called Abhanga Gatha, the Indian tradition believes it includes some 4,500 abhangas. The poems considered authentic cover a wide range of human emotions and life experiences, some autobiographical, and places them in a spiritual context. The 1869 edition noted, "some of the [as received] manuscripts on which the compilation relied, had been 'corrected', 'further corrected' and 'arranged'."
A translation of about 3,700 poems from Tukaram Gatha in English was published, in three volumes, between 1909 and 1915, by Fraser and Marathe. In 1922, Fraser and Edwards published his biography and religious ideas incorporating some translations of Tukaram's poems, and included a comparison of Tukaram's philosophy and theology with those of Christianity. Deleury, in 1956, published a metric French translation of a selection of Tukaram's poem along with an introduction to the religious heritage of Tukaram (Deleury spells him as Toukaram).
Arun Kolatkar published, in 1966, six volumes of avant-garde translations of Tukaram poems.
Chandrakant Kaluram Mhatre has translated selected poems of Tukaram, published as One Hundred Poems of Tukaram.
Legacy
thumb|Varkaris [[Pandharpur Wari|annually journey to Vithoba's central temple in Pandharpur with Palkhi procession holding the symbolic paduka (footprints) of Tukaram]]
Maharashtra society
Tukaram's abhangs are very popular in Maharashtra. It became part of the culture of the state. Varkaris, poets and peoples study his poems. His poems are popular in rural Maharashtra and their popularity is increasing. Tukaram was a devotee of Vithoba (Vitthala), an avatar of God Vishnu, but with regional style and features.
According to Richard Eaton, from early 14th-century when Maharashtra region came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, down to the 17th century, the legacy of Tukaram and his poet-predecessors, "gave voice to a deep-rooted collective identity among Marathi-speakers". Dilip Chitre summarizes the legacy of Tukaram and Bhakti movement sants, during this period of Hindu-Muslim wars, as transforming "language of shared religion, and religion a shared language. It is they who helped to bind the Marathas together against the Mughals on the basis not of any religious ideology but of a territorial cultural identity".
Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi, in early 20th century, while under arrest in Yerwada Central Jail by the British colonial government for his non-violent movement, read and translated Tukaram's poetry along with Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and poems by other Bhakti movement poet-saints.