Longing, only the sight of Vitthal
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझ्या मना लागो चाळा । पहावया विठ्ठला डोळां॥1॥
आणीक नाही चाड । न लगे संसार हा गोड ॥ध्रु.॥
तरि च फळ जन्मा आलों । सरता पांडुरंगीं जालों ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । देई चरणांची सेवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let my mind be absorbed in the delight of beholding Vitthal with these eyes. I have no other desire; the sweetness of worldly life is not needed. Only then has this birth borne fruit, when one is wholly given to Panduranga. Says Tuka, O God, grant me the service of Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let my mind be caught up in this one play: to see Vitthal with these eyes. I have no other longing. The sweetness of worldly life I do not want. Only then has my birth borne fruit, when I am wholly given to Panduranga. Tuka says: O God, grant me the service of Your feet.
What it means
Tukaram narrows every desire down to one. He wants his mind absorbed in a single occupation, beholding Vitthal with his own eyes, and he sets aside the so-called sweetness of worldly life as worthless beside it. He measures his life by this alone: a human birth bears fruit only when one is wholly surrendered to Panduranga, and not otherwise. The closing prayer asks for nothing grand, only the service of God's feet, the humble nearness that is, for him, the whole point of being born.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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