82nd post वृक्षवल्ली आम्हां सोयरे वनचरें
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वृक्षवल्ली आम्हां सोयरे वनचरें। पक्षीही सुस्वरें आळविती ॥ १ ॥

येणें सुखें रुचे एकांताचा वास । नाहीं गुण दोष अंगा येत ॥ २॥

आकाश मंडप पृथिवी आसन । रमे तेथें मन क्रीडा करू ॥ ३ ॥

कंथाकमंडलॊ देहौउपचारा । जाणवितो वारा अवसरू ॥ ४॥

हरिकथा भोजन परवडी विस्तार । करोनि प्रकार सेवूं रुची ॥ ५ ॥

तुका म्हणे होय मनासी संवाद । आपुलाचि वाद आपणांसी ॥ ६॥

Verbatim Meaning :-

All the trees , creepers , different animals and birds singing sweetly are my near and dear one relatives. The sky is the canopy and The Earth is my seat . My mind is happy to be here and because of this pleasure I like this place where I can be alone . Staying here does not cause me to get any virtues of follies.|| 1 + 2 ||

I am having suitable cover for Body and vessel for drinking water . The passing wind enables me to know the time passed Therefore I will stay here for whatever time I like and enjoy this play.||3 + 4 ||

Tuka says the at this wonderful place I will enjoy the singing and reciting /hearing the stories about the divine, since these are like feast for me. Besides this I can spend time here in meditation thorough which I will establish dialog between me and my innerself. || 5 + 6 ||

Background Information for the Hymn :-

Saint Tukaram was a liberated soul . Such person lives in this world but is never away from his state of union with Parabrahman ( all pervading consciousness) . Therefore such persons are addressed as “Jeevaanmuktas meaning one who is Free from the cycle of Birth and death. Such personalities forcefully bring themselves to the world conscious state since they have to deal with the world. This state of body is called “Turiya Avastha “and in this state of body one remains conscious about the world as well as Parabrahman . For getting the meaning / ie. understanding this state , the example of a lamp which is lighting the interior of the house as well as exterior part of the house, since it is located at the entrance of the house.

Thus the speech and sayings of these saints is nothing but the speech of God Himself. This is the reason why this Hymn is unique and very important. The first two lines are famous since these enable us to look at the world with a special prospective.

We can refer to the chapter of Vishvarupadarshana from Srimad BhagavadGeeta . Thisd chapter shows us that the omnipresent God appears to us in all the visual forms . The Hymn addresses the same point in it's first two lines.

In our earlier post we have seen the meaning of the Hymn “which state that the real godly person is

the one who treats all the Poor and downtrodden people as his own and lives his life for uplifting

them .

This Hymn tells us to consider not only the Humans but also all other living beings as our near and dear ones. Also it describes to us the importance of going to a solitary place and spend some time there. This kind of spending some time in solitude is useful for achieving not only the worldly goals but also the spiritual progress.

The meaning of the Hymn becomes clear when we consider the above described background.

Meaning of the Hymn :-

As said earlier, Tukarama Maharaj ( he being a liberated soul who has experiences union with the Universal Consciousness Parabrahmasn ) naturally treated all the living beings including Trees and Creepers as his near and dear ones. In his times it was thought that trees and creepers did not have Consciousness though He experienced the same and thus stated in the Hymn.

Subsequently in 19^th century , Sir Jagadeeshachandra Bose has proven that truly the trees and creepers too have consciousness and experience various emotions.

In the first stanza of the Hymn ; it is stated that all these are near and dear one, for Saint Tukarama Maharaja. He further says that the tweeting of Birds is like music and gives him immense pleasure.

In my opinion ; these lines give us the idea and prospective for looking at the world and and the Nature .We should treat our environment with love and when we treat it like this then it also treats us in return by the same measures. Otherwise we are experiencing the damages that are happening. Thus this part of the Hymn is obviously important one.

Once we have our dear ones around us, then we can never feel lonely and depressed. In fact when we are in the company of like minded people then such time are always enjoyable.

However if the group is not uniform in its thinking then conflicts and pain follows. It is now known that even-though not expressed with spoken words, the thoughts of a person around us , can affect us if our mind is sensitive. When one starts the practices in spirituality, one of the effects is the increased sensitivity of the mind. Such person will definitely abhor the company of the persons who are immersed only in the thoughts for bodily pleasure and therefore will prefer to remain with nature alone in solitude.

One who understands that the God is the doer and we are just the instruments in his scheme to get various things done, and thus remembers the God always, naturally will like the company of like minded beings. The company of Nature is therefore the best one .

This is the reason for our sages to live in the remote plains of Himalayas.

The biography of Takarama Maharaja says tht he used to go to a hill named “Bhandara “for doing meditation.

He has clearly stated in the 3^rd and 4^th stanza that he loves such environment where the sky forms the canopy, Earth is the seat. He only has bare necessities such as a blanket for covering the body and a small vessel for water. He says that the quality of wind blowing , enables him to judge the time , and thus he is very happy to spend the time in singing glories of his beloved Panduranga.

Rest of the part of the Hymn are describing the importance of solitude.

Sri.RamakrishnaParamahansa says that one should go to a solitary place once awhile. Sri Samartha Ramadas has also advised the same.

Generally people go to a sage with their requests to solve their worldly need and problems. The sages being very kind hearted , do help such people. There are very few , who aspire for progress in their search for God and peace problems ; and when such a person meets a sage he is very happy.

Tukarama maharaj is also interested to go and spend time in solitude so as to meditate on his beloved deity. He states this thought in the last part of the Hymn.

There are advantages and benefits in going in solitude. The nature of these gives benefits in worldly as well as in Spiritual aspects.

A) Worldly advantages and benefits :-

One who wants to succeed in the endeavours undertaken in the world, can do proper planning when he goes in solitude. He can review the progress . Also secrete plans can be given shape only in solitude.

1)When King Shivaji went to meet the tyrant Afzalkhan , he spent a lot of time in solitude to plan this meeting.

2) Shankaracharya could find the rules for Vedic Mathematics only in solitude.

These examples are adequate to bring out the importance of going to solitude.

Following excerpts are self explanatory . These have been told by Samatrha Ramadasa in

his book Dasabodha.

अखंड एकांत सेवावा। ग्रंथमात्र धांडोळावा।प्रचीत येईल तो घ्यावा। अर्थ मनी ॥

विवेक एकांती करावा। जगदीश धारणेने धरावा।

येकांती विवेक ठांई पडे । येकांती येत्न सापडे। येकांती तर्क वावडे।

येकांती स्मरण करावें।चुकले निधान पडे ठावें।

जयास येकांत साधला । अवघ्या आधी कळे त्याला । त्यावेगळॆ वडिलपणाला । ठावची नाही ॥

meaning of these are given below.

1) One should continuously live in solitude, study all the books and find the hidden deep meanings of the teachings given therein.

2) One should practice deep discrimination in solitude and contemplate on the greatness of the God Almighty.

3) In solitude one gets clarity about pros and cons of any action to be taken, find the way of right effort. In solitude thinking becomes sharp, and logic can reach all subjects in the universe.

4) The recollecting should be done when alone, because in that aloneness can one find the things that were forgotten.

5) One who can remain alone successfully, knowws everything before all others. Really, there is no other place of resort for greatness than this man of discrimination. One who is successful in going to solitude, understands everything, and thus get all the respect in the society.

B) Spiritual Advantages and benefits :-

The solitude is needed to for doing meditation porperly. There is enough literature available on this aspect.

One can perform worship of God, Recitation of his Holy name etc only when he is gone to solitude. Brahmachaitanya Gondavalekar Maharaj has explained that as long as one is able to remember Holy name of God almighty, it amounts to remaining in solitude only.

When we meditate in solitude , on the thoughts given in various books;, their true meaning appears in the mind automatically. Tukarama Maharaj has the same point in his mind when he praises solitude in the last stanza of the Hymn.

Teaching of the Hymn:-

This hymn teaches us that one who wants to make progress , in Worldly affairs or in spiritual path; must go in solitude once a while and achieve his goals. Also one should love every being and work for the welfare of the whole.

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