Devotion, the easy path for Vishnu's servants
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मुनि मुक्त जाले भेणें गर्भवासा । आह्मां विष्णुदासां सुलभ तो ॥1॥
अवघा चि संसार केला ब्रह्मरूप । विठ्ठलस्वरूप ह्मणोनियां ॥ध्रु.॥
पुराणीं उपदेश साधन उद्भट । आह्मां सोपी वाट वैकुंठींची ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जनां सकळांसहित । घेऊं अखंडित प्रेमसुख ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sages sought liberation for fear of the womb. For us, the servants of Vishnu, He is easily accessible. We have made the entire world into Brahman, seeing everything as the form of Vitthal. The Puranas prescribe arduous practices, but for us the path to Vaikuntha is simple. Says Tuka, together with all people, we shall receive the unbroken joy of love.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sages sought liberation out of fear of the womb. For us, the servants of Vishnu, he is easy to reach. We have made the whole world into Brahman, calling everything the form of Vitthal. The Puranas prescribe harsh practices, but for us the path to Vaikuntha is simple. Tuka says: together with all people, we will take the unbroken joy of love.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts two ways. The sages strove for liberation out of fear of returning to the womb, treating God as hard to win and practice as severe. The servants of Vishnu, he says, have him within easy reach. By seeing the whole world as Brahman and everything as the form of Vitthal, the difficult prescriptions of the Puranas fall away and the road to Vaikuntha becomes simple. And the joy is not private: Tuka claims it for everyone, an unbroken joy of love taken in company with all people.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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