Tukaram is better known than Namdev and his poetry which was part of the intellectual awakening that accompanied the rise of the Maratha power is still a living force wherever Marathi is spoken.  He lived from 1607 to 1649 and was born in a family of merchants near Poona.  But he was too generous to succeed in trade and a famine, in which one of his two wives died, brought him to poverty.  Thenceforth he devoted himself to praying and preaching.  He developed a great aptitude for composing rhyming songs in irregular metre,[643] and like Caitanya he held services consisting of discourses interspersed with such songs, prepared or extempore.  In spite of persecution by the Brahmans, these meetings became very popular and were even attended by the great Sivaji.

His creed is the same as that of Namdev and finds expression in verses such as these.  “This thy nature is beyond the grasp of mind or words, and therefore I have made love a measure.  I measure the Endless by the measure of love:  he is not to be truly measured otherwise.  Thou art not to be found by Yoga, sacrifice, fasting, bodily exertions or knowledge.  O Kesava, accept the service which we render.”

But if he had no use for asceticism he also feared the passions.  “The Endless is beyond; between him and me are the lofty mountains of desire and anger.  I cannot ascend them and find no pass.”  In poems which are apparently later, his tone is more peaceful.  He speaks much of the death of self, of purity of heart, and of self-dedication to God.  “Dedicate all you do to God and have done with it:  Tuka says, do not ask me again and again:  nothing else is to be taught but this.”

Maratha critics have discussed whether Tukaram followed the monistic philosophy of Sankara or not and it must be confessed that his utterances are contradictory.  But the gist of the matter is that he disliked not so much monism as philosophy.  Hence he says “For me there is no use in the Advaita.  Sweet to me is the service of thy feet.  The relation between God and his devotee is a source of high joy.  Make me feel this, keeping me distinct from thee.”  But he can also say almost in the language of the Upanishads.  “When salt is dissolved in water, what remains distinct?  I have thus become one in joy with thee and have lost myself in thee.  When fire and camphor are brought together, is there any black remnant?  Tuka says, thou and I were one light.”

5

There are interesting Vishnuite sects in Assam.[644] Until the sixteenth century Hinduism was represented in those regions by Saktism, which was strong among the upper classes, though the mass of the people still adhered to their old tribal worships.  The first apostle of Vishnuism was Sankar Deb in the sixteenth century.  He preached first in the Ahom kingdom but was driven out by the opposition of Saktist Brahmans, and found a refuge at Barpeta.  He appears to have inculcated the worship of Krishna as the sole