Pandhari, pride melts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उठाउठीं अभिमान । जाय ऐसें स्थळ कोण ॥1॥
तें या पंढरीस घडे । खळां पाझर रोकडे ॥ध्रु.॥
अश्रूचिया धारा । कोठें रोमांच शरीरा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काला । कोठें अभेद देखिला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where does pride vanish instantly the moment one arrives? That happens at Pandhari, where even the hardened break down visibly. Streams of tears flow, and the hair rises on the body. Says Tuka, where else has such complete oneness been witnessed, even among the darkest of beings?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where does pride leave a man the moment he arrives? Where is the place that does this? It happens at this Pandhari, where even hard hearts visibly break and weep. Streams of tears, hair standing up on the body. Tuka says: where else has such oneness, with no division left, ever been seen?
What it means
Tukaram is asking what other place on earth can dissolve a man's pride the instant he sets foot there. His answer is Pandhari, the town of Vitthal. He points to the plain bodily signs: even the hardened weep openly, tears stream, the hair rises with feeling. These are not performances; they are pride giving way. The closing line names the wonder: nowhere else has he seen such complete oneness, where the divisions between souls simply fall away.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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