Devotion, holding fast and not letting go
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धरूनि पालव असुडीन करें । मग काय बरें दिसे लोकीं ॥1॥
काय तें विचारा ठायींचें आपणां । जो हा नारायणा अवकाश ॥ध्रु.॥
अंतर पायांसी तो वरी या गोष्टी । पडिलिया मिठी हालों नेदीं ॥2॥
रुसलेती तरी होईल बुझावणी । तांतडी करूनि साधावें हें ॥3॥
सांपडलिया आधीं कारणासी ठाव । येथें करूं भाव दृढ आतां ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझे ठाउके बोभाट । मग खटपट चुकली ते ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will seize the hem of your garment and pull it with my hands; never mind how it may look to the world. Consider within yourself, O Narayana, what room there is for delay. Outwardly these are just words, but once I lay hold of your feet, I will not let you stir. If you are displeased, there will be a reconciliation; I will press the matter urgently. Now that I have found the cause of all causes, I will fix my devotion firmly here. Says Tuka, your protests are well known to me, and once heard, the struggle is over.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will catch the hem of your garment and pull it with my hands; never mind how it looks to the world. Consider with yourself, O Narayana, what room there is for delay. Outwardly these are only words, but once I lay hold of your feet, I will not let you stir. If you are displeased, there will be a making-up; I will press the matter hard. Now that I have found the cause of all causes, I will fix my love firmly here. Tuka says: I know your protests well, and once they are heard, the struggle is over.
What it means
Tukaram threatens, with love, to grab God's garment and not care how it looks to onlookers, asking God plainly what justifies any delay. He admits the words are just words until the act follows, but once he takes hold of God's feet he means to keep so firm a grip that God cannot move. If God grows annoyed, he will simply make peace and keep pressing, urgently. He has found the source of everything and will plant his devotion there for good; and he knows God's reluctant protests so well that, once they have been voiced, the whole tug-of-war is already settled in his favor.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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