Devotion, only His service matters
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आगी लागो तया सुखा । जेणें हरि नये मुखा ॥1॥
मज होत कां विपित्त । पांडुरंग राहो चित्तीं ॥ध्रु.॥
जळो तें समूळ। धन संपित्त उत्तम कुळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । जेणें घडे तुझी सेवा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let that comfort burn which keeps Hari from coming to one's lips. Even if calamity befalls me, may Panduranga remain in my chitta. Let wealth, possessions, and noble lineage all burn to the ground. Says Tuka, O God, only that matters by which Your service is accomplished.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let that comfort burn which keeps Hari from coming to my lips. Let calamity fall on me; let Panduranga stay in my heart. Let it all burn down to the root: wealth, possessions, high birth. Tuka says: O God, only that counts by which Your service gets done.
What it means
Tukaram measures everything by a single test: does it bring Hari closer or push Him out? Any comfort that crowds the Name off his lips, he would rather see burned. He goes further and welcomes calamity itself, so long as Panduranga stays settled in his heart, because the loss of ease is nothing against the loss of God. Wealth, property, and the social pride of high birth all fall under the same flame; he wants them gone if they do not serve. The closing line states the rule directly: the only worth a thing has is whether it lets him serve God, and on that scale most of what people prize counts for nothing.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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