Devotion, the King of Pandhari above all lesser gods
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हे जोखाई जोखाई । मायराणी मेसाबाई ॥1॥
बिळया माझा पंढरिराव । जो या देवांचा ही देव ॥ध्रु.॥
रंडी चंडी शक्ति । मद्यमांस भिक्षती ॥2॥
बहिरव खंडेराव । रोटीसुटीसाटीं देव ॥3॥
गणोबा विक्राळ । लाडुमोदकांचा काळ ॥4॥
मुंज्या ह्मैसासुरें । हें तों कोण लेखी पोरें ॥5॥
वेताळें फेताळें । जळो त्यांचें तोंड काळें ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे चित्तीं । धरा रखुमाईचा पती॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He is not Jokhai or Jokhai, nor Mayarani, nor Mesabai. My mighty Lord is the King of Pandhari, the God of all gods. Those fierce goddesses demand offerings of liquor and meat. Bhairav and Khanderav are gods who serve only for bread and butter. Ganoba is fearsome, a terror who devours only laddoos and modakas. Munja and Mhasasur, who even considers these childish spirits? As for ghosts and ghouls, let their faces burn black. Says Tuka, hold in your chitta the Husband of Rakhumai alone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He is not Jokhai, not Jokhai, not Mayarani, not Mesabai. My mighty Lord is the King of Pandhari, the God even of these gods. The fierce goddesses beg for liquor and meat. Bhairav and Khanderav are gods who serve only for bread and a bit of butter. Ganoba is fearsome, a terror only to laddoos and modakas. Munja and Mhasasur, who even counts such childish spirits? As for the ghosts and ghouls, let their black faces burn. Tuka says: hold in your heart the Husband of Rakhumai alone.
What it means
Tukaram clears the crowded field of local deities to point at the one he worships. He lists the village goddesses and spirits people fear and feed, and he deflates each: the fierce goddesses only want offerings of liquor and meat, Bhairav and Khanderav are bought with bread and butter, the dreaded Ganoba is a terror only to the sweets set before him, and the petty ghosts are not worth counting. Above all of them stands the King of Pandhari, Vitthal, the God even of these gods. The point is not mockery for its own sake but the cutting of dependence on powers that take and give nothing real. His counsel is single: hold in your heart only the Husband of Rakhumai.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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