Arati, the lord beyond sin and merit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पुण्यपापविरहित सकळां अधिपति । दृष्टा परि नळणी अलिप्त गति ॥1॥
जय देव जय देव जय पंढरिनाथा । श्रीपंढरिनाथा । नुरे पाप विठ्ठल ह्मणतां सर्वथा ॥ध्रु.॥
आगम निगम तुज नेणती कोणी । परि तूं भाव भक्ति जवळी च दोन्ही ।
नेणतां विधियुक्त राते पूजेनी । न माये ब्रह्मांडीं संपुष्टशयनीं ॥2॥
असुरां काळ भासे विक्राळ पुढें । पसरी मुखएक चावितो धुडें ।
भक्ता शरणागता चाले तो पुढें । दावी वाट जाऊ नेदी वांकडें ॥3॥
एकाएकीं बहु विस्तरला सुखें । खेळे त्याची लीळा तो चि कवतुकें।
तेथें नरनारी कवण बाळकें । काय पापपुण्य कवण सुखदुःखें ॥4॥
सकळा वर्मां तूं चि जाणशी एक । बद्ध मोक्ष प्राप्त आणि सुखदुःख।
जाणों ह्मणतां तुज टकलीं बहुतेकें । तुका ह्मणे शरण आलों मज राखें ॥5॥
दैत्यभारें पीडिली पृथुवी बाळा । ह्मणोनि तूज येणें जालें गोपाळा ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Beyond sin and virtue, lord of all, the witness whose movement is untouched like the lotus. Victory to you, Lord of Pandhari. All sin perishes when one utters the name of Vitthal. The scriptures cannot fathom you, yet you stand close to both devotion and love. You cannot be contained in all the worlds, yet you rest upon the serpent's coils. To demons you appear as terrifying Death, jaws open wide. But to devoted seekers you walk ahead, showing the way, never letting them stray. Alone, you have expanded into infinite bliss, playing your own game for your own delight. There, what is man or woman or child? What is sin or merit, pleasure or pain? You alone know the innermost secret of all. Many have stumbled trying to know you. Says Tuka, I have come to your refuge; protect me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Beyond sin and merit, lord of all, you are the witness whose course stays untouched, like the lotus in water. Victory to you, victory, victory, Lord of Pandhari; say Vitthal and no sin is left at all. The scriptures, both agama and nigama, do not know you, yet you stand close beside both faith and love. To the one who does not even know the rules but worships with feeling, you come; the whole universe cannot hold you, yet you rest there. To demons you loom ahead as terrible Death, jaws open, devouring. To the devotee who has surrendered you walk in front, showing the way, never letting them stray. Alone you spread yourself out into endless bliss; the play is yours, and you sport in it for your own delight. There, who is man, who is woman, who is child? What is sin, what is merit, what is pleasure or pain? You alone know the secret of all of it: bondage and release, and joy and sorrow. Many who said "I know you" were left baffled. Tuka says: I have come to your shelter; keep me safe.
What it means
This arati praises Vitthal as the one who stands outside the whole ledger of good and bad. He is the witness, unstained as a lotus is unwetted, so merely saying his name burns up sin. Tukaram sets up a contrast that runs through the poem: scriptures and clever knowers cannot reach God, yet he draws near to plain faith and love, and even the worshipper who knows no ritual. The same God is two-faced by where you stand: terrible Death to the demon, a guide walking ahead to the one who surrenders. Behind both is one play, God expanding into all things for his own delight, where the categories of man, woman, sin, merit, and pain dissolve. Tukaram's response is not to claim knowledge, since the knowers were baffled, but to take refuge and ask to be kept.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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