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The Muslim reign
was firmly entrenched in the south at that time. The Portuguese ruled Goa. The
three main Muslim rulers – Adilshah of Bijapur, Nizamshah of Ahmednagar and
Kutubshah of Golconda – were perpetually at loggerheads with each other, the
upshot being that villages were being looted recklessly and rendered barren
while the rulers themselves were enjoying to the hilt all the perquisites of
royalty. The subjects were living in abject conditions.
‘The Brahmins had given up their
pious deportment, the Kshatriyas were bleeding the Vaishyas and forcible
conversions were the rule of the day,’ noted Tukaram. Anarchy prevailed in every
sphere. The undesirable had usurped the place of the desirable and the saints
had been robbed of their place of honour. The society had become split at many
levels. Religion held no attraction for anybody and ignorance ruled the roost.
People were looking forward to a new sunrise and such a sunrise was witnessed at
Dehu.
Tukaram was born to a great devotee,
Bolhoba, and his wife, Kanakai, in 1609. His childhood was spent in great
comfort and luxury, because the family was prosperous. He was initiated into
education by the pantoji (the non-formal village teacher). The alphabet was
learnt with the help of pebbles that gave form to each letter.
So far as his
initiation into the temporal and spiritual life was concerned, Tukaram did so at
the knee of his father, Bolhoba. When Savji refused to take up the family
business and money-lending, Tukaram was asked by his father to take upon him the
responsibility. He received lessons in business while working under the guidance
of his father at the mahajan’s wada (shop) in the marketplace. Marriage came
about at the age of 13 and soon Tukaram began looking after the family business
independently. He became successful both in trade and money-lending. Plaudits
came his way from the general public. Everyone praised him. He successfully
transferred the atmosphere of piety prevailing at home to his workplace. Since
Tukaram’s first wife was chronically afflicted by asthma, a second wedding was
arranged with Jijabai (alias Awali), the daughter of Appaji Gulwe, a famous
money-lender in Pune. It was an alliance between two affluent families that
marked the pinnacle of prosperity for Tukaram’s family. The house was always
well-stocked with grains, there were affectionate parents and brothers and
Tukaram himself enjoyed good health. There was not a single thing to complain
about. Days went by in a perpetual state of happiness and well-being. As they
say, sorrow follows happiness in a cyclical manner. A demonstration of this was
in store. |
