Devotion, one sight is enough
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघीं च तीथॉ घडलीं एकवेळा । चंद्रभागा डोळां देखिलिया ॥1॥
अवघीं च पापें गेलीं दिगांतरीं । वैकुंठ पंढरी देखिलिया ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघिया संतां एकवेळा भेटी । पुंडलीक दृष्टी देखिलिया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जन्मा आल्याचें सार्थक । विठ्ठल चि एक देखिलिया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All pilgrimages are accomplished at once upon beholding the Chandrabhaga with one's eyes. All sins flee to the far corners upon seeing Pandhari, which is Vaikuntha itself. Meeting all the saints happens at once upon beholding Pundalik. Says Tuka, the whole purpose of being born is fulfilled by seeing Vitthal alone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All pilgrimages are accomplished at once when the eyes behold the Chandrabhaga. All sins flee to the far corners when one sees Pandhari, which is Vaikuntha itself. Meeting all the saints happens at once when one beholds Pundalik. Tuka says: the whole purpose of being born is fulfilled by seeing Vitthal alone.
What it means
Tukaram gathers every spiritual labor into a single act of seeing. To lay eyes on the river Chandrabhaga is to have made all the pilgrimages at once; to see Pandhari is to stand in Vaikuntha and watch every sin scatter; to behold Pundalik, the devotee whose love brought the Lord to that place, is to have met all the saints together. The climb ends where it began: just to see Vitthal is the reason a person was ever born. The whole world of merit, pilgrimage, and holy company is folded into one darshan at Pandharpur.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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