Bold devotion, holding God to account
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उदारा कृपाळा अंगा देवांच्या देवा । तुजसवें पण आतां आमुचा दावा ॥1॥
कैसा जासी सांग आतां मजपासुनी । केलें वाताहात दिले संसारा पाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघीं आवरूनि तुझे लाविलीं पाठीं । आतां त्या विसर सोहंकोहंच्या गोष्टी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां चरणीं घातली मिठी । पडिली ते पडो तुह्मा आह्मांसी तुटी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O generous and compassionate One, O God of gods, our contest is now with You. How will You escape from me now? You have overturned everything and drowned worldly life. I have gathered all my attachments and set them upon Your trail. Now forget those debates of 'I am He' and 'Who am I.' Says Tuka, I have seized Your feet in a firm embrace. Let whatever may happen come; even if it breaks the bond between us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Generous one, compassionate one, God of gods: now my contest is with you. Tell me, how will you get away from me now? You have overturned everything; you have drowned my worldly life. I have gathered all my attachments and set them on your trail. Now forget those debates of 'I am He' and 'Who am I.' Tuka says: I have seized your feet in a tight embrace. Let whatever falls, fall; even if it breaks the bond between us.
What it means
Tukaram turns prayer into a wrestling match he intends to win. Having let God drown his worldly life, he refuses to let God slip away, and he sics all his old attachments onto God's trail so the Lord cannot escape. He sets aside the lofty Vedantic questions of identity, 'I am He,' 'Who am I,' as debates he no longer needs once he has the feet themselves. The closing line is the stake: he has clamped onto God's feet and will not let go, even if the grip itself snaps the bond. It is the boldness of total surrender, where clinging becomes its own argument.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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