Devotion, plunder the treasure
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सकळ देवांचें दैवत । उभें असे रंगा आंत ॥1॥
रंगा लुटा माझे बाप । शुद्ध भाव खरें माप ॥ध्रु.॥
रंग लुटिला बहुतीं । शुक नारदादि संतीं ॥2॥
तुका लुटितां हे रंग । साहए जाला पांडुरंग ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The deity of all the gods stands within the sacred hall. Plunder this treasure, O my people; a pure chitta is the true measure. Many have plundered this bounty: Shuka, Narada, and all the saints. Says Tuka, as I plunder this divine treasure, Panduranga Himself becomes my helper.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The God of all gods stands here, inside the sacred hall. Plunder this treasure, O my people. A pure heart is the true measure. Many have plundered it: Shuka, Narada, all the saints. Tuka says: as I plunder this treasure, Panduranga Himself became my helper.
What it means
Tukaram turns worship into an open robbery that everyone is welcome to join. The deity of all the gods is standing right there in the kirtan hall, and the wealth is His presence, free to be taken. The one currency that buys entry is a pure heart, so the measure is inner sincerity, not rank or learning. He points to Shuka, Narada, and the saints who already carried this treasure off, and then says the strange thing: when he reaches in to plunder it, the Lord Himself helps him do it. Grace does not guard the door against the seeker; it hands over the goods.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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