Devotion, the easy and faithful Lord
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुर्जनाची जाती । त्याचे तोंडीं पडे माती ॥1॥
त्याची बुिद्ध त्यासी नाडी । वाचे अनुचित बडबडी ॥ध्रु.॥
पाहें संतांकडे । दोषदृष्टी सांडी भडे ॥2॥
उंच निंच नाहीं । तुका ह्मणे खळा कांहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The nature of the wicked is such that dirt falls into their own mouths. Their own intellect misleads them, and their tongues utter what is improper. They look upon the saints with eyes that see only faults, picking fights recklessly. Says Tuka, for the wicked, there is no sense of high or low.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To serve other masters takes the labor of the body, and their words turn out hollow. But Panduranga is so easy, so near. He does not make His servant run back and forth. With other masters obstacles fall before a meeting; here not even a word stands in the way. Other masters fill the belly only now and then; the bounty here never runs out, not even at the end of the ages. Other masters punish any lapse in service; here there is neither jealousy nor spite. Tuka says: He makes others into His own likeness. He lifts up the stranger, the high and the low alike.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts the world's masters with God point by point to show how much easier and surer divine service is. Worldly masters demand bodily toil, break their promises, block access, feed you only sometimes, and punish every mistake. Panduranga reverses each of these: He is near and easy to reach, places no barrier before a meeting, gives a bounty that never empties, and holds no jealousy or spite when His servant slips. The final claim is the largest: this Lord does not just reward service, He transforms the servant into His own likeness and uplifts everyone, high and low and even the outsider.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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