Description

Tukaram Gatha : Nivadak Abhanga, edited by Bhalchandra Nemade, the Jnanapeeth Award winning distinguished Marathi litterateur, includes five hundred phenomenal Abhangas by Tukaram, the foremost saint-poet, lived in the 16th century AD, of Maharashtra and writer of the memorable “Abhanga” poems. Abhanga is a typical Marathi genre of poetry predominantly enriched by Tukaram, originated as a metrical composition derived from the “ovi” metre, used extensively in the folk-poetry of Maharashtra. 

The book is divided into five sections – Virakti, Bhakti, Naitikata, kavitva, Santatva and Mukti – on the basis of the content of the Abhangas. In the Abhangas, Tukaram talks about his family, his low caste, his trials and tribulations, the means of his livelihood, the terrible famine which destroyed his world, the psychological and metaphysical side of life, the conflict between his passion for life and an equally powerful passion for renunciation in the hope of attaining Moksha. The reader can look for an extraordinary pageant of his life in these Abhangas. Bhalchandra Nemade’s introduction to the book eruditely speaks of Tukaram, the saint-poet and his times, and cultural significance and universality of his outstanding poetry.