Devotion, single-minded service
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लौकिकापुरती नव्हे माझी सेवा । अनन्य केशवा दास तुझा ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि करीं पायांसवें आळी । आणीक वेगळी नेणें परी ॥ध्रु.॥
एकविध आह्मी स्वामिसेवेसाटीं । वरी तो चि पोटीं एकभाव ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे करीं सांगितलें काम । तुह्मां धर्माधर्म ठावे देवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My service is not merely for show; I am Your exclusive and devoted servant, O Keshava. Therefore I make my plea at Your feet; I know no other way. I am single-minded in my devotion to the Master's service; the same oneness pervades my chitta and my outward actions. Says Tuka, I carry out the work You assign; matters of right and wrong are known to You alone, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My service is not just for show. I am Your own servant, given to none but You, O Keshava. So I make my plea at Your feet; I know no other way. I am single-minded in serving my Master, and the same one feeling fills my heart and my acts. Tuka says: I do the work You assign; right and wrong are known to You alone, O God.
What it means
Tukaram disowns any outward, for-show piety and declares himself God's exclusive servant. Because he serves no one else, he has no other refuge to approach, so he comes to Vitthal's feet alone. He insists his devotion is undivided, with inner feeling and outer action carrying the one same intent. The closing line is the heart of his surrender: he simply performs whatever task God gives, leaving all judgment of right and wrong to God, since the servant's part is obedience, not verdict.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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