Devotion, the pilgrims' birthright
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पंढरीचे वारकरी । ते अधिकारी मोक्षाचे ॥1॥
पुंडलिका दिला वर । करुणाकरें विठ्ठलें ॥ध्रु.॥
मूढ पापी जैसे तैसे। उतरी कासे लावूनि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे खरें जालें । एका बोलें संतांच्या ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The pilgrims of Pandhari are the true heirs to liberation. Vitthal, the compassionate Lord, granted this boon to Pundalik. However dull, sinful, or fallen they may be, He ferries them across by tying them to His purpose. Says Tuka, it has come true by the single word of the saints.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The pilgrims of Pandhari are the rightful heirs to liberation. The compassionate Vitthal granted this boon to Pundalik. However dull, however sinful or fallen they may be, he ties them to himself and ferries them across. Tuka says: it has come true on the strength of a single word of the saints.
What it means
Tukaram declares liberation to be the birthright of the Varkari pilgrims, the ordinary people who walk to Pandharpur. He grounds it in the founding story: Vitthal, moved by Pundalik's devotion, granted this grace and stayed at Pandhari for all. The sweep of it is the point: no matter how dull or sinful or low a pilgrim may be, none is turned away; God binds each to himself and carries them across. And the guarantee rests not on the pilgrim's merit but on the saints' word, which Tukaram treats as already fulfilled. Grace here is democratic and certain.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →