Devotion, asking only to serve
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घेईन मी जन्म याजसाठीं देवा । तुझी चरणसेवा साधावया ॥1॥
हरिनामकीर्तन संतांचे पूजन । घालूं लोटांगण महाद्वारीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आनंदें निर्भर असों भलते ठायीं । सुखदुःख नाहीं चाड आह्मां ॥2॥
आणीक सायास न करीं न धरीं आस । होईन उदास सर्व भावें ॥3॥
मोक्ष आह्मां घरीं कामारी ते दासी । होय सांगों तैसी तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I would gladly take birth again for this alone, O God: to practice the service of Your feet. Singing Hari's name, worshipping the saints, bowing prostrate at the great door of the temple. Let me dwell anywhere in overflowing bliss; I have no concern for pleasure or pain. I will make no other effort and hold no other hope; I will be completely detached in every way. Says Tuka, liberation waits upon us at home like a maidservant; it does whatever we say.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I would take birth again for this alone, O God: to win the service of Your feet. To sing Hari's name, to worship the saints, to fall full length at the great temple door. Let me live anywhere, full of joy. I have no wish for pleasure or for pain. I will make no other effort and hold no other hope. I will be wholly detached, in every way. Tuka says: liberation waits in our house like a maidservant. It does whatever we tell it.
What it means
Tukaram redefines what a devotee should want from another birth. He does not ask for heaven, comfort, or even release; he asks only for the chance to serve God's feet, to sing the Name, to honor the saints, to prostrate at the temple. With that one desire fixed, every other craving falls away: pleasure and pain become matters of indifference, and he renounces all further striving and hope. The closing line lands the claim. To the one absorbed in such service, the liberation that others chase has become a household servant, near at hand and obedient. By wanting only to serve, he has unknowingly gained the very thing seekers strain after.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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