Shivaji Maharaj was one of the greatest king in India. He was himself a genuinely spiritual person, can be seen from his dialogues like "..ही श्रींची इच्छा.." and also from the fact that he considered Sant Ramdas, a contemporary saint, his Guru.
He had heard about Sant Tukaram and was very eager to meet him. So he sent some gifts and invitation for meeting.
Below are some lines from the Abhangs Sant Tukaram wrote after finding this out.
Dislike for Material Things
दिवट्या छत्री घोडे । हे तो बऱ्यात न पडे ।।
आता येथे पंढरिराया । मज गोविसी कासया ।।
मान दंभ चेष्टा । हे तो शुकराची विष्ठा ।।
तुका म्हणे देवा । माझे सोडववणे धावा ।।
From the above abhang, it is clear that among the gifts sent, torch bearer, special umbrella and horses were also present. Tukaram Maharaj, directs this abhang to Pandurang, his Lord. He asks, why my dear God, you want me to be bound to these things. He says, for me, others' respect, hypocrisy and other such games are like excreta of pig, they do not matter to me at all. Oh God, please save me from this situation.
नावडे जे चित्ता । ते चि होसी पुरविता ।।
In another abhang, he gets angry with the God and tells him, you only give me those things, which I do not need!
He makes it pretty clear that, he does not care for respect given by anyone, not even kings.
तुम्हापाशी आम्ही येऊनिया काय । वृथा सीण आहे चालण्याचा ।।
In another abhang, he tells Shivaji Maharaj, what will be achieved by my coming to meet you? Nothing. Only the result will be the wasted effort of walking.
आता हे चि तुम्हा सांगणे कौतुक । भिक्षे ऐसे सुख नाही नाही ।।
In another abhang, he tells Shivaji Maharaj that he does not need anything. He further goes on to say that he lives on alms only. And in the above line, he says, I would like to share a wonderful thing with you, that there is no such pleasure, as that received from alms.
Upadesh to Shivaji Maharaj (Teachings)
He wrote multiple abhangs with guidelines for Shivaji Maharaj. Below are some lines from them:
विश्व हे विठ्ठल नाही दुजे काही । देखणे तुझे ही तयामाजी ।।
This whole universe is God (Vitthal) Himself, and I see you too, in Him.
सद्गुरू श्रीरामदासाचे भूषण । तेथे घाली मन चळों नको ।।
बहुतां ठायीं वृत्ति चाळवली जेव्हा । रामदास्य तेव्हा कैसे घडे ।।
He tells Shivaji Maharaj, you have accepted Sant Ramdas as your Guru, so please follow his teaching attentively, do not let your mind wander anywhere else.
He further says, if you let your mind loose and try to learn from too many sources, you will not be able to serve God (Ram). So please be focused.
Then below is a full abhang, with direct guidelines for Shivaji Maharaj,
आता एक योग साधावा हा नीट । भल्याचा तो वीट मानू नये ।।
जेणे योगे तुम्हा घडो पाहे दोष । ऐसा हा सायास करू नये ।।
निंदक दुर्जन संग्रही असती । त्यांची युक्ती चित्ती आणू नका ।।
परीक्षावे कोण राज्याचे रक्षक । विवेकाविवेक पाहोनिया ।।
सांगणे न लगे सर्वज्ञ तू राजा । अनाथांच्या काजा साह्य व्हावे ।।
हे चि ऐकोनियां चित्त समाधान । आणिक दर्शने चाड नाही ।।
घेऊनिया भेटी कोण हा संतोष । आयुष्याचे दिस गेले गेले ।।
एकदोनी कर्मे जाणोनिया वर्में । आपुलिया भ्रमे राहू आता ।।
कल्याणकारक अर्थ याचा एक । सर्वां भूती देख एक आत्मा ।।
आत्मारामी मन ठेऊनिया राही । रामदासी पाहे आपनेया ।।
"The Yoga that you have to fulfill is as follows, do not get wearied by your good deeds i.e. be enthusiastic to always do what is good.
Do not do anything which will result in a blemish on yourself.
As a king, there are all kinds of people around you, including, defamers and evil people. Please know who they are and do not follow any of their suggestions.
You also need to understand, who are the people interested in welfare of the state, you need to intelligently identify them.
I should not be explicitly telling you as you are very learned and a good king, but please be a benefactor of the poor and desolate people.
I will be happy to learn of these things being followed by you, there is now no other reason to meet. Even if we meet, what is to be achieved, we have already lost so much time till now (let us now focus on our aims/tasks, instead of wasting time in this meeting).
Another important thing is, when you are trying to determine if a policy is good or bad, keep in mind that in all the living beings, only One God/Atma is present.
Please keep your mind in the knowledge of the Soul - Sant Ramdas will surely take care of you."
There are sure a thing or two, to learn from these abhangs, for us as well!
He had heard about Sant Tukaram and was very eager to meet him. So he sent some gifts and invitation for meeting.
Below are some lines from the Abhangs Sant Tukaram wrote after finding this out.
Dislike for Material Things
दिवट्या छत्री घोडे । हे तो बऱ्यात न पडे ।।
आता येथे पंढरिराया । मज गोविसी कासया ।।
मान दंभ चेष्टा । हे तो शुकराची विष्ठा ।।
तुका म्हणे देवा । माझे सोडववणे धावा ।।
From the above abhang, it is clear that among the gifts sent, torch bearer, special umbrella and horses were also present. Tukaram Maharaj, directs this abhang to Pandurang, his Lord. He asks, why my dear God, you want me to be bound to these things. He says, for me, others' respect, hypocrisy and other such games are like excreta of pig, they do not matter to me at all. Oh God, please save me from this situation.
नावडे जे चित्ता । ते चि होसी पुरविता ।।
In another abhang, he gets angry with the God and tells him, you only give me those things, which I do not need!
He makes it pretty clear that, he does not care for respect given by anyone, not even kings.
तुम्हापाशी आम्ही येऊनिया काय । वृथा सीण आहे चालण्याचा ।।
In another abhang, he tells Shivaji Maharaj, what will be achieved by my coming to meet you? Nothing. Only the result will be the wasted effort of walking.
आता हे चि तुम्हा सांगणे कौतुक । भिक्षे ऐसे सुख नाही नाही ।।
In another abhang, he tells Shivaji Maharaj that he does not need anything. He further goes on to say that he lives on alms only. And in the above line, he says, I would like to share a wonderful thing with you, that there is no such pleasure, as that received from alms.
Upadesh to Shivaji Maharaj (Teachings)
He wrote multiple abhangs with guidelines for Shivaji Maharaj. Below are some lines from them:
विश्व हे विठ्ठल नाही दुजे काही । देखणे तुझे ही तयामाजी ।।
This whole universe is God (Vitthal) Himself, and I see you too, in Him.
सद्गुरू श्रीरामदासाचे भूषण । तेथे घाली मन चळों नको ।।
बहुतां ठायीं वृत्ति चाळवली जेव्हा । रामदास्य तेव्हा कैसे घडे ।।
He tells Shivaji Maharaj, you have accepted Sant Ramdas as your Guru, so please follow his teaching attentively, do not let your mind wander anywhere else.
He further says, if you let your mind loose and try to learn from too many sources, you will not be able to serve God (Ram). So please be focused.
Then below is a full abhang, with direct guidelines for Shivaji Maharaj,
आता एक योग साधावा हा नीट । भल्याचा तो वीट मानू नये ।।
जेणे योगे तुम्हा घडो पाहे दोष । ऐसा हा सायास करू नये ।।
निंदक दुर्जन संग्रही असती । त्यांची युक्ती चित्ती आणू नका ।।
परीक्षावे कोण राज्याचे रक्षक । विवेकाविवेक पाहोनिया ।।
सांगणे न लगे सर्वज्ञ तू राजा । अनाथांच्या काजा साह्य व्हावे ।।
हे चि ऐकोनियां चित्त समाधान । आणिक दर्शने चाड नाही ।।
घेऊनिया भेटी कोण हा संतोष । आयुष्याचे दिस गेले गेले ।।
एकदोनी कर्मे जाणोनिया वर्में । आपुलिया भ्रमे राहू आता ।।
कल्याणकारक अर्थ याचा एक । सर्वां भूती देख एक आत्मा ।।
आत्मारामी मन ठेऊनिया राही । रामदासी पाहे आपनेया ।।
"The Yoga that you have to fulfill is as follows, do not get wearied by your good deeds i.e. be enthusiastic to always do what is good.
Do not do anything which will result in a blemish on yourself.
As a king, there are all kinds of people around you, including, defamers and evil people. Please know who they are and do not follow any of their suggestions.
You also need to understand, who are the people interested in welfare of the state, you need to intelligently identify them.
I should not be explicitly telling you as you are very learned and a good king, but please be a benefactor of the poor and desolate people.
I will be happy to learn of these things being followed by you, there is now no other reason to meet. Even if we meet, what is to be achieved, we have already lost so much time till now (let us now focus on our aims/tasks, instead of wasting time in this meeting).
Another important thing is, when you are trying to determine if a policy is good or bad, keep in mind that in all the living beings, only One God/Atma is present.
Please keep your mind in the knowledge of the Soul - Sant Ramdas will surely take care of you."
There are sure a thing or two, to learn from these abhangs, for us as well!
