Praise of the saint as God's working in the world
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसिया अनंतामाजी तूं अनंत । लीलावेश होत जगत्राता ॥1॥
ब्रह्मानंद तुकें तुळे आला तुका । तो हा विश्वसंख्या क्रीडे जनीं ॥ध्रु.॥
शास्त्रा श्रेष्ठाचार अविरुद्ध क्रिया । तुझी भक्तराया देखियेली ।
देऊनि तिळाजुळी काम्य निषिद्धांसी । विधिविण योगेशी ब्रह्मार्पण ॥2॥
संत ग्रहमेळीं जगधंद्या गिळी । पैल उदयाचळीं भानु तुका ।
संत वृंदें तीर्थ गौतमी हरिकथा । तुकया नर सिंहस्ता भेटों आली ॥3॥
शांति पतिव्रते जाले परिनयन । काम संतर्पण निष्कामता।
क्षमा क्षमापणें प्रसिद्ध प्रथा जगीं । तें तों तुझ्या अंगी मूतिनमंत ॥4॥
दया दिनानाथा तुवा जीवविली । विश्वीं विस्तारली कीतिन तुझी ।
वेदवाक्यबाहु उभारिला ध्वज । पूजिले देव द्विज सर्वभूतें ॥5॥
अधर्म क्षयव्याधि धर्मांशीं स्पर्शला । तो त्वां उपचारिला अनन्यभक्ति।
ब्रह्म ऐक्यभावें भक्ति विस्तारिली । वाक्यें सपळ केलीं वेदविहितें ॥6॥
देहबुिद्ध जात्या अभिमानें वंचलों । तो मी उपेिक्षलों न पाहिजे।
न घडो याचे पायीं बुद्धीचा व्यभिचार । मागे रामेश्वर रामचंद्र ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Among the infinite, You are the Infinite, O playful savior of the world. Says Tuka, who is one with the bliss of Brahman: he plays among the people like the sum of all the world. His conduct is irreproachable by scripture and tradition, and his devotion to You has been witnessed by all. Having offered all desire and forbidden action as oblation, he performs only the rituals prescribed by Brahman. The saints, like a conjunction of planets, have swallowed up the world's noise. Tuka rises like the sun on the eastern horizon. The saints form a holy gathering; the Godavari itself is the sacred story of Hari. Peace and fidelity have been wedded; desire has been quenched by desirelessness. Forgiveness is famous in all the world as the mark of the forgiving. Compassion, O Lord of the lowly, You have kept alive. Your glory has spread throughout the world. You raised the banner of the Vedic word and honored God, the twice-born, and all creatures. The disease of irreligion had touched the body of righteousness; You cured it with the remedy of single-minded devotion. You spread devotion in the spirit of oneness with Brahman and made the words of the Vedas bear fruit.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Among the infinite you are the Infinite, O playful savior of the world. Tuka says: he who is weighed equal to the bliss of Brahman plays among the people as the whole sum of the world. His conduct is beyond reproach by scripture and tradition, and your devotion has been seen in him. Offering up all selfish desire and forbidden acts, he keeps only what Brahman ordains, dedicating all to God without clinging to mere rule. The saints, like a gathering of planets, swallow up the world's noise. Tuka rises like the sun on the eastern hill. The throng of saints is itself the holy ford, and the story of Hari is the sacred Godavari. Peace and faithfulness are wedded; desire is quenched by desirelessness. Forgiveness is famous through the world, and in your body it takes living form. Compassion, O Lord of the lowly, you have kept alive, and your fame has spread through all the world. You raised the banner of the Vedic word and honored God, the twice-born, and every creature. The wasting disease of unrighteousness had touched the body of dharma; you healed it with the medicine of single-minded devotion. In the spirit of oneness with Brahman you spread devotion, and you made the words of the Vedas bear fruit. By the pride of body and birth I have been cheated; do not pass me by. Let my mind never betray these feet. Rameshwar asks this of Ramachandra.
What it means
This long abhanga celebrates the true saint as the place where God's own work becomes visible in the world. The saint, here named with Tuka, is weighed equal to the bliss of Brahman yet moves among ordinary people, his conduct blameless by scripture and his devotion plainly God's doing; he gives up selfish and forbidden action and keeps only what is rightly ordained, offering all to God without clinging to rule for its own sake. The great virtues are spoken of as living in him: peace wedded to fidelity, desire quenched by desirelessness, forgiveness and compassion taking bodily form, so that the saints together make the whole earth a place of pilgrimage. The frame is a healing: the wasting disease of unrighteousness had infected dharma itself, and it is cured by single-minded devotion, which makes the Vedic word bear fruit. The closing turn is personal and humble: the speaker confesses he has been cheated by pride of body and birth, begs not to be passed over, and asks that his mind never stray from these feet, signing as Rameshwar pleading to Ramachandra.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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