Devotion, the many names and the one sweetness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बहु नांवें ठेविलीं स्तुतीचे आवडी । बहुत या गोडी आली रसा ॥1॥
बहु सोसें सेवन केलें बहुवस । बहु आला दिस गोमटएाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुतां पुरला बहुतां उरला । बहुतांचा केला बहु नट ॥2॥
बहु तुका जाला निकट वृत्ती । बहु काकुलती येऊनियां॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Many names have been given to You out of the pleasure of praise. Such sweetness has come into this nectar. Many have served You abundantly and with great devotion. A beautiful day has dawned. You have sufficed for many, outlasted many, and entertained many as a great actor. Says Tuka, I have drawn very near, coming with earnest supplication.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Many names have been given to You out of the love of praise; great sweetness has come into this nectar. With much longing and in many ways You have been served; a beautiful day has dawned. You have been enough for many, have outlasted many, and have played the great actor for many. Tuka says: Tuka has drawn very near to You, coming with much pleading.
What it means
Tukaram is delighting in how the one God answers to countless names, each given out of the sheer pleasure of praising Him, and how all that praise has turned into a single sweetness, a nectar. He sees that God has been served by many in many ways, and that this devotion has ripened into a good day. The one God is enough for all, outlasts all, and plays His many roles like a great actor on the stage of the world. For himself, Tuka claims only that through earnest pleading he has at last come close.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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