Adoration, beyond all comparison
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तूं माउलीहून मयाळ चंद्राहूनि शीतळ । पाणियाहूनि पातळ कल्लोळ प्रेमाचा ॥1॥
देऊं काशाची उपमा दुजी तुज पुरुषोत्तमा । ओंवाळूनि नामा तुझ्या वरूनि टाकिलों ॥ध्रु.॥
तुवां केलें रे अमृता गोड त्या ही तूं परता । पांचां तत्त्वांचा जनिता सकळ सत्तानायक ॥2॥
कांहीं न बोलोनि आतां उगा च चरणीं ठेवितों माथा । तुका ह्मणे पंढरिनाथा क्षमा करीं अपराध ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You are more loving than a mother, cooler than the moon, more fluid than water itself, a wave of pure love. What comparison can be offered to You, O Supreme Being? I have waved my hands over Your Name and surrendered everything. You have made even nectar taste sweeter; You surpass it. Creator of the five elements, sovereign of all power. Now, saying nothing more, I simply place my head at Your feet in silence. Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, forgive my transgressions.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You are gentler than a mother. You are cooler than the moon. You are more fluid than water, a wave of pure love. What can I set beside You, O Supreme One? There is no second thing. I have waved my hands over Your Name and thrown away everything I had. You made even nectar sweet, and You are beyond nectar too. You are the maker of the five elements, the master of all power. Now I say nothing more. I simply lay my head at Your feet. Tuka says: O Lord of Pandhari, forgive my faults.
What it means
Tukaram reaches for the gentlest and coolest things he knows, mother, moon, water, and finds each one falls short of his Lord. The point of the comparisons is that there is no real comparison: God is the source even of sweetness, the maker of the elements and the master of all power. So the only fitting response is surrender, not praise. He waves the lamp of God's Name over himself, lets go of all he owns, and ends with silence and a bowed head, asking only for forgiveness.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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