Sant Tukaram Abhangs

By the BhaktiRas Editorial Team · Updated 16 July 2026

Sant Tukaram, also called Tukoba or Tukaram Maharaj, was a seventeenth century Marathi poet-saint from Dehu, near Pune, and one of the central figures of the Varkari bhakti tradition devoted to Vitthal of Pandharpur. He composed thousands of abhangs, short devotional verses in everyday Marathi, carrying his teachings on equality, simple living and direct personal devotion far beyond the boundaries of caste and formal ritual. The six abhangs collected on this page are among his most widely sung and quoted, chosen for how often they appear in kirtans, school textbooks and the wari itself, not as a complete record of his output. Each text below has been checked against multiple published Marathi sources and presents the commonly sung core stanzas rather than the full length of every original composition.

Famous Tukaram Abhang Lyrics

Tukaram's Message & the Varkari Tradition

Tukaram belonged to the Varkari sampraday, a bhakti movement centered on Vitthal (Vithoba), the form of Krishna enshrined at Pandharpur, built on the earlier teachings of Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath and other Marathi sants. Varkaris walk together twice a year, at Ashadhi and Kartiki Ekadashi, in the Pandharpur wari, singing abhangs the entire way as an act of shared devotion rather than solitary worship.

What set Tukaram apart, even among the sants, was how directly his abhangs spoke against caste hierarchy and empty ritual. Born into a Kunbi trading family with no formal training in Sanskrit scholarship, he wrote in the Marathi people actually spoke, insisting that sincerity of heart mattered more than birth, learning or wealth, and that God was as reachable to the poor and the low-born as to the priest.

Poverty, family loss and business failure marked much of his early life, and abhangs like Je Ka Ranjale Ganjale grew directly out of that experience, describing the truest saints as those who make the suffering their own. Tradition holds that Tukaram departed this world bodily to Vaikuntha on Falgun Vadya Dwitiya, an event still marked every year as Tukaram Beej. This remains an article of Varkari faith rather than a historically verified event, and is presented here as tradition, not fact.

How Are Abhangs Sung?

1. – A kirtankar or lead singer opens the abhang's first line, usually to a simple tune on harmonium or ektari.
2. – The refrain (dhrupad) line is repeated by the group until the tune settles before the verses continue.
3. – Verses follow one by one, with taal (cymbals) and mridang or pakhawaj marking the rhythm.
4. – The tempo often quickens toward the closing tuka mhane line, bringing the abhang to a close.
5. – During the wari, thousands of pilgrims walking in dindis sing these abhangs together with veena, taal and mridang.
6. – At home, abhangs are just as often sung softly without instruments, keeping time with hand claps alone.

Why People Sing Tukaram's Abhangs

Varkaris and other devotees turn to these abhangs for reasons that go beyond ritual, describing effects such as:

• : A sense of calm and steadiness that comes from repeating simple, familiar Marathi verse
• : A feeling of closeness to Vitthal, built through personal, everyday language rather than formal Sanskrit ritual
• : Comfort in hardship, especially from abhangs like Je Ka Ranjale Ganjale that speak directly to suffering
• : A shared sense of community with fellow Varkaris during the wari and in local kirtan gatherings
• : Encouragement toward simple living and honesty, core themes across Tukaram's poetry
• : A living connection to Maharashtra's bhakti heritage passed down through home and school for generations

Who Was Sant Tukaram?

Tukaram was born around 1608 in Dehu, a small town on the Indrayani river near Pune, into a Kunbi family that ran a grocery and moneylending business and also farmed land. Famine, the death of his first wife and eldest son, and the collapse of the family business left him in deep personal crisis as a young man, a period he later described openly in his abhangs rather than hiding it behind formal piety.

Out of that crisis he turned fully to devotion to Vitthal, and, by his own account and later Varkari tradition, received spiritual initiation in a dream from an earlier teacher named Babaji Chaitanya. He went on to compose thousands of abhangs in spoken Marathi, openly criticizing caste privilege and empty ritual, which drew devoted followers as well as hostility from some orthodox Brahmin scholars of his time. Varkari accounts also remember him for exchanges with the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is said to have respected him deeply.

Varkari tradition holds that Tukaram departed the world bodily, ascending to Vaikuntha from Dehu on Falgun Vadya Dwitiya in 1650, an event still commemorated annually as Tukaram Beej. As with other sant legends, this is a matter of devotional belief rather than documented history.

Frequently Asked Questions

॥ जय जय राम कृष्ण हरी ॥