Counsel to the mind, resolve on Pandhari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मना एक करीं । ह्मणे जाईन पंढरी । उभा विटेवरी। तो पाहेन सांवळा ॥1॥
करीन सांगती तें काम । जरी जपसी हें नाम । नित्य वाचे राम । हरि कृष्ण गोविंदा ॥ध्रु.॥
लागें संतांचिया पायां । कथे उल्हास गावया । आलों मागावया । शरण देई उचित॥2॥
नाचें रंगीं वाहें टाळी । होय सादर ते काळीं । तुका ह्मणे मळी । सांडूनियां अंतरी ॥3॥
न राहे क्षण एक वैकुंठीं । क्षीरसागरीं त्रिपुटी ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O mind, resolve upon this one thing: I will go to Pandhari and see the dark Lord standing on the brick. I will do whatever He commands, if only you chant this name: Rama, Hari, Krishna, Govinda, always on your tongue. Fall at the feet of the saints, rejoice in the sacred story; I have come to surrender and seek proper refuge. Says Tuka, dance in the divine color, clap your hands, be attentive, and cast away all inner impurity.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O mind, settle on this one thing: I will go to Pandhari and see the dark Lord standing on the brick. I will do whatever work he commands, if only you chant this name, always on the tongue: Rama, Hari, Krishna, Govinda. Fall at the feet of the saints; rejoice in the holy story and sing it. I have come to surrender and to ask: grant me the refuge that is fitting. Dance in the color of joy, clap your hands, be wholly attentive in that hour. Tuka says: cast out the dirt within.
What it means
Tukaram is instructing his own mind, fixing it on a single resolve so it cannot wander. The bargain is simple: he will obey whatever God asks, on the one condition that the mind keep the Name on the tongue without a break. Around that center he gathers the whole Varkari practice: bowing to the saints, singing the story, surrendering for refuge, dancing and clapping in the kirtan. The closing line names the inner work the rest is for, the scouring out of the impurity in the heart. The Name is not one act among many here; it is the thread that holds every other act in place.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →