Devotion, no womb of sorrow for the devotee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चिंतनें सरे तो धन्य काळ । सकळ मंगळ मंगळांचें ॥1॥
संसारसिंधु नाहीं हरिदासा । गर्भवास कैसा नेणती ते ॥ध्रु.॥
जनवन ऐसें कृपेच्या सागरें । दाटला आभारें पांडुरंग ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा भक्तांचे बंधन । दाखविलें भिन्न परी एक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Blessed is the time spent in contemplation of God; it is the most auspicious of all auspicious things. For the devotees of Hari, there is no ocean of worldly life; they know nothing of the anguish of womb-dwelling. Panduranga, that ocean of grace, has flooded both forest and habitation alike with His presence. Says Tuka, though appearing separate, the devotees and God are one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Blessed is the time that wears away in thinking of God. It is the most auspicious of all auspicious things. For the servants of Hari there is no ocean of worldly life. They do not know the anguish of dwelling in the womb. Like an ocean of grace, Panduranga has flooded forest and town alike with himself. Tuka says: God showed the devotees and himself as separate, but they are one.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the time given to remembrance and naming what it spares the one who gives it. For those who keep the Name of Hari, the great ocean of birth and death is not there to cross; they are released from the dread of being born again into a body. He sees the whole world, wild places and dwellings alike, drowned in Panduranga's grace, as though God's presence has overflowed everywhere. And he ends by collapsing the distance the poem itself relied on: the devotee and God look separate, but they are finally one.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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