When Ramdas was 12 years old, preparations were made for his marriage. His marriage was taking place, and he was seated on the seat of the bridegroom. There was a curtain between the bride and the groom. When the priests started chanting. Ramdas ran away from the place and disappeared.Ramdas then stayed on the banks of the river Godavari and did rigorous penance. With his body half immersed in water, he used to recite the Gayatri Mantra till noon. Then he would go for alms. He used to have food only after offering the alms he had received to Lord Rama. He also used to attend religious discourses and copied the Valmiki Ramayana in his own handwriting.
Pandharpur has always been a place which had attracted holy men. However, Ramdas neber knew that such a place even existed. Legend says that Lord Panduranga Vittala of Pandharpur Himself appeared before him, disguised as a Brahmin with three hundred pilgrims. The Lord asked him whether he was inclined towards seeing Lord Kriahna. The Lord then took Ramdas to Pandharpur and when they approached the temple, the Lord disappeared. Ramdas realised that the Brahmin was none other than the Lord. On entering the temple, Ramdas saw Sri Rama standing on a brick. Ramdas asked the Lord what he was doing there all alone and enquired about His consort Sita, His brother Lakshmana and his great Bhakta (devotee) Hunuman. At once, the form of the Lord turned into that of Krishna of Pandharpur. This confirmed Ramdas' belief that the different incarnations were but the different forms of one and the same Lord , the one who was the Lord of the Universe. After that, Ramdas started visiting Pandharpur temple, where he came into contact with Sant Tukaram.
Shivaji, the founder of the Maharashtra kingdom, became Ramdas' devotee. Lord rama asked Ramdas to go to the banks of the river Krishna to help out Shivaji. On his way, Ramdas established shrines of Lord Rama. At a place called Singanvadi, Shivaji accepted Ramdas as his Guru. He then placed the Guru's sandals on the throneand acted as his agent.
One day, Shivaji saw Ramdas walking in the streets begging for alms. He did not understand why his Guru was begging. Shivaji called his friend Balaji to driver it to him. In the note, Shivaji had given his whole kingdom as a gift to his Guru, humbly requesting his Guru to accept it. On reading the note, Ramdas called Shivaji and asked him to take the begging bowl and beg! They went to the banks of the river, partook of food and Ramdas asked Shivaji to rule the kingdom dispassionately, without any sense of ownership, considering it as a trust to be ruled well before God.
Ramdas had many unique traits, which sometimes made people consider him a mad man. He had a number of disciples, many were women.
Ramdas spent most of his life visiting holy places and erecting temples of Hanuman in many places of Maharashtra. In the midst of his pilgrimage, he came to know that his mother was longing to see him and that she had lost her eyesight due to sorrow of seperation. Hearing this, he rushed to his mother. When he touched his mother's eyes, she regained her eyesight.
During his last days, Ramdas spent time building temples and ashrams in the north and south of India. In addition, he engaged himself in literary activities, which included works like Dasabodh, Manche Slok etc.
Ramdas breathed his last chanting the Ram Mantra in 1682 at Sajjangad, a fortress given to him by Shivaji. It is said that a bright light emanated from his body at the time of his death and merged with the idol of Rama.