Devotion, not by my own strength
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझे पाय माझे राहियेले चित्तीं । ते मज दाविती वर्म देवा ॥1॥
आह्मां अंधां तुझ्या पायांचा आधार । जाणसी विचार चाळवितां ॥ध्रु.॥
मन िस्थर ठेलें इंिद्रयें निश्चळ । हें तों माझें बळ नव्हे देवा ॥2॥
पापपुण्य भेद नासिलें तिमिर । त्रिगुण शरीर सांडियेलें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझा प्रताप हा खरा । मी जाणें दातारा शरणागत ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Your feet have settled in my chitta, O God, and they reveal to me the truth. For us who are blind, Your feet are the only support; You know how to guide us even when we stumble. The mind has become steady, the senses still; this is not my own strength, O God. The darkness of sin and virtue, of distinction itself, has been destroyed; this body of three qualities has been left behind. Says Tuka, this is Your real power; I know myself only as one who has surrendered, O Generous Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Your feet have settled in my chitta, O God, and they show me the truth. For us who are blind, your feet are the only support; you know how to guide us when we stumble. The mind has grown steady, the senses still. This is not my own strength, O God. The darkness of sin and virtue, of difference itself, has been destroyed; this body of three qualities has been left behind. Tuka says: this is your real power. I know myself only as one who has surrendered, O generous Lord.
What it means
Tukaram refuses to take credit for his own transformation. His mind has become steady, his senses quiet, the very sense of sin and virtue dissolved, and the body of the three gunas left behind; but he insists none of this is his doing. He is blind, and it is God's feet, settled in his awareness, that both support him and show him the truth. Whatever steadiness he has is God's power working, not his own effort succeeding. So the only thing he claims for himself is the one posture that opened the door: surrender.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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