Adoration, beyond all praise
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नमो विष्णुविश्वरूपा मायबापा । अपरा अमुपा पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
विनवितों रंक दास मी सेवक । वचन तें एक आइकावें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुझी स्तुति वेद करितां भागला । निवांत चि ठेला नेति नेति ॥2॥
ॠषि मुनि बहु सिद्ध कविजन । वणिनतां ते गुण न सरती ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तेथें काय माझी वाणी । जे तुझी वाखाणी कीर्ती देवा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I bow to You, O Vishnu, O Universal Form, Father and Mother, boundless and immeasurable Panduranga. I, a lowly servant, implore You: hear this one word of mine. Even the Vedas grew weary praising You and rested in stillness, saying "not this, not this." Rishis, munis, siddhas, and poets have described Your virtues, yet their accounts never reach an end. Says Tuka, what then is my small voice, that it should proclaim Your glory, O God?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I bow to you, Vishnu, Universal Form, Mother and Father, boundless and beyond measure, Panduranga. I, a poor servant, beg you: hear this one word of mine. Even the Vedas grew tired praising you and fell silent, saying "not this, not this." Rishis, munis, many siddhas, and poets have told your virtues, and still their telling never comes to an end. Tuka says: what then is my small voice, that it should proclaim your glory, O God?
What it means
Tukaram opens with full prostration to Vishnu as Panduranga, calling him parent of all and beyond every limit. Then he names why praise can only be an act of love, never of measurement. The Vedas themselves wore out and could only say neti neti, not this, not this; the great sages and poets describe his qualities endlessly and never reach the end. Against all of them, Tukaram sets his own voice as nothing. The humility is the worship: he sings precisely because he knows he cannot contain what he sings about.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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