Tookaram Tatya
Tookaram Tatya (also spelled as Tukaram Tatya) was a cotton commission merchant and active member in the municipal and political affairs of the city of Bombay. On April 9, 1880, he contacted Col. Olcott and presented an introductory letter from Mr. Martin Wood, editor of the Bombay Review. He was formally admitted into the Theosophical Society the next month, on May 2, and became a trustee of the organization.
He established a Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund and published many books in Sanskrit, English, and Marathi, including the literary works of T. Subba Row. One example is the Fund's publication of "Lectures on the Study of the Bhagavad Gita," a series of Subba Row articles originally printed in The Theosophist. Tookaram Tatya also issued it separately under the title of "Discourses on the Bhagavad Gita."[1] He also was noted for publishing A Guide to Theosophy (1887).
Another of his activities was establishing a free homeopathic clinic which treated 40,000 patients mesmerically over 18 years.[2]
He passed away on June 2, 1898. An obituary notice in The Theosophic Gleaner states that his death "was a great loss to the T.S., not in India only, but throughout the world. He was of great assistance to H.P.B. [Helena Petrovna Blavatsky] and Col. Olcott in Bombay, and has been one of the most active members in the T.S., a great philanthropist, and steadfast in loyalty to the Masters."[3]
Publications
- Tukaram Tatya, editor.The Yoga Philosophy: Being the Text of Patanjali, with Bhoja Raja's Commentary. Bombay: Subodha-Prakash Press, 1885. 2nd edition revised, edited, and reprinted for the Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund by Tookaram Tatya, with introduction by Col. Olcott. Translations in English by Dr. Ballantyne and Govind Shastri Deva. Available at Blavatsky Archives.
- Tukaram Tatya, compiler. A Guide to Theosophy, containing select articles for the instructions of aspirants to the knowledge, of theosophy. Bombay: Bombay Theosophical Publication Fund, 1887. Available at Hathitrust.
Online resources
- "Tatya, Tukaram" at Theosopedia.
- N. C. Ramanujachary, "Tookaram Tatya" The Theosophist (July 2009).