Devotion, you become what you hold
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्याचें जया ध्यान । तें चि होय त्याचें मन ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि अवघें सारा । पांडुरंग दृढ धरा ॥ध्रु.॥
सम खूण ज्याचे पाय । उभा व्यापक विटे ठाय ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नभा । परता अनूचा ही गाभा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whatever one meditates upon, the mind becomes that very thing. Therefore, resolve all matters by holding firmly to Panduranga. His feet stand evenly upon the brick; He is the all-pervading One, standing on that single spot. Says Tuka, He is beyond the sky, yet the core of even the smallest atom.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whatever you meditate on, your mind becomes that very thing. So settle every matter; hold firmly to Panduranga. His feet stand level on the brick. He stands on that one spot, yet he fills everything. Tuka says: he is beyond the sky, and he is the core inside the smallest atom.
What it means
Tukaram states a law of attention and tells you what to do with it. The mind takes the shape of whatever it dwells on, so the choice of object is the whole game; he says fix it on Panduranga and let that settle everything else. He points to the paradox of the form he loves: Vitthal stands on a single brick at Pandhari with his feet set evenly, yet that same one is all-pervading. Larger than the sky and smaller than the smallest atom, the God you can hold in one fixed image is the God who is everywhere at once.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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