Exhortation, God waits on the road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पंढरीसी जा रे आलेनो संसारा । दीनाचा सोयरा पांडुरंग ॥1॥
वाट पाहे उभा भेटीची आवडी । कृपाळूं तांतडी उतावीळ ॥ध्रु.॥
मागील परिहार पुढें नेहे सीण । जालिया दर्षणें एकवेळा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नेदी आणिकांचे हातीं । बैसला तो चित्तीं निवडेना ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Go to Pandhari, O you who have come into this world. The friend of the poor, Panduranga, stands there watching the road, eager and impatient with love for the meeting. All past sorrows are dissolved, and no future weariness remains, once you have had His darshan even a single time. Says Tuka, He does not hand you over to anyone else; once He has entered your heart, He never leaves.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Go to Pandhari, all of you who have come into this world. Panduranga, the friend of the poor, is standing there, watching the road, eager and impatient for the meeting. Once you have his sight even a single time, every past sorrow dissolves and no weariness lies ahead. Tuka says: he does not hand you over to anyone else; once he has settled in your heart, he never leaves.
What it means
An invitation that reverses the usual direction of longing. We think of the devotee yearning for God, but here it is God, Panduranga, who stands at Pandhari watching the road, impatient with love for the meeting. To anyone simply born into the world, Tukaram says: go. A single darshan dissolves all past sorrow and removes all future weariness. And the bond, once made, is permanent and exclusive: God does not pass you off to any other power, and once he has taken up residence in your heart he never moves out. The eagerness, remarkably, is mostly on God's side.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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