Devotion, plunging into the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
राहो ये चि ठायीं । माझा भाव तुझे पायीं ॥1॥
करीन नामाचें चिंतन । जाऊं नेदीं कोठें मन ॥ध्रु.॥
देईन ये रसीं । आतां बुडी सर्वविशीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । साटी करोनियां जीवा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let my devotion remain here at Your feet. I will contemplate Your Name and not allow my mind to wander anywhere. I will plunge deep into this nectar with all my being. Says Tuka, O God, I have staked my very life on this.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let it stay right here: my love at your feet. I will hold the Name in my thoughts. I will not let my mind go anywhere. I come into this nectar; now I sink down, completely, in every part. Tuka says: O God, I have staked my very life on it.
What it means
Tukaram asks that his devotion be planted at the feet of the Lord and never move. The discipline is simple and total: keep the Name in mind, and refuse the mind permission to wander off anywhere else. He describes this not as duty but as nectar he is diving into, letting himself go under entirely rather than tasting it from the edge. The closing line names the stake: he has wagered his whole life on this single resting place.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →