Pandhari, the generous king beckons
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुःखाचिये साटीं तेथें मिळे सुख । अनाथाची भूक दैन्य जाय ॥1॥
उदाराचा राणा पंढरीस आहे । उभारोनि बाहे पालवितो ॥1॥
जाणतियाहूनि नेणत्याची गोडी । आिंळगी आवडी करूनियां ॥2॥
शीण घेऊनियां प्रेम देतो साटी । न विचारी तुटी लाभा कांहीं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे असों अनाथ दुबळीं । आह्मांसी तो पाळी पांडुरंग ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where one brings sorrow, there one finds joy in return. The hunger and wretchedness of the destitute vanish there. The king of the generous dwells in Pandhari, arms raised high, beckoning all. He loves the innocence of the unknowing even more than the wisdom of the learned; He embraces them with special affection. He takes on suffering and gives love in exchange, never counting the cost or the gain. Says Tuka, let us be poor and helpless; Panduranga will sustain us all the same.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Bring your sorrow there, and there you receive joy in exchange. The hunger and misery of the helpless are gone. The king of the generous lives in Pandhari, arms raised high, waving everyone in. He loves the simple one who does not know more than the one who knows. He embraces them out of pure fondness. He takes your weariness and gives love in its place; he never counts the loss or the gain. Tuka says: let us be poor and helpless. Panduranga will look after us all the same.
What it means
Tukaram turns the relation with God into a trade where the destitute come out ahead. You bring sorrow and weariness; what you carry away is joy and love. The generous king of Pandhari does not stand aloof but stands with his arms up, beckoning, and he favors the unknowing over the learned, embracing them out of plain affection. He keeps no ledger of profit and loss in this exchange. So Tukaram is glad to claim poverty and helplessness as his own condition: it is exactly the helpless that Panduranga sustains.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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