Devotion, one thing held
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एक धरिला चित्तीं । आह्मीं रखुमाईचा पती ॥1॥
तेणें जालें अवघें काम । निवारला भवश्रम ॥ध्रु.॥
परद्रव्य परनारी । जालीं विषाचिये परी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे फार । नाहीं लागत वेव्हार ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have held one thing in my chitta: the Lord of Rukmini. By that alone, everything has been accomplished, and the toil of worldly existence has been removed. Another's wealth and another's spouse have become like poison to me. Says Tuka, no elaborate transaction is needed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have held one thing in my heart: the Lord of Rukmini. By that alone, every task is done; the toil of worldly existence is gone. Another's wealth, another's wife, have become like poison to me. Tuka says: no elaborate dealings are needed.
What it means
Tukaram names the single thing that settles everything: he holds Vitthal, the Lord of Rukmini, in his heart, and that one hold finishes all his work and ends the exhausting round of worldly life. From that one center, the two great temptations fall away on their own, for another's wealth and another's spouse have turned to poison in his mouth. The point is that devotion is not one more elaborate transaction added to life; it is the one hold that makes all the others unnecessary.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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