Refusal of opinion, call on Govinda
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोणाचिया न पडों छंदा । गोविंदासी आळवूं ॥1॥
बहुतांचीं बहु मतें । अवघे रिते पोकळ ॥ध्रु.॥
घटापटा ढवळी मन। होय सीण न करूं तें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पांडुरंग । भरूं भाग आला तो ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let me not fall under anyone's sway; I will call upon Govinda alone. The opinions of the many are manifold, yet all are hollow and empty within. Let me not agitate my mind over this or that, nor endure needless suffering. Says Tuka, Panduranga has come to fill my portion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let me not fall under anyone's spell. I will call on Govinda alone. The many have many opinions, and all of them are hollow, empty inside. Let me not stir up my mind over this and that; I will not wear myself out with it. Tuka says: Panduranga has come to fill my share.
What it means
Tukaram is refusing to be swayed by the crowd of competing teachings and instead fixing on one name. He calls the many opinions of clever people hollow and empty, not worth tangling his mind in. The discipline he sets himself is to stop agitating over rival views and to stop exhausting himself chasing them. The relief at the end is that he no longer has to fill the gap by his own effort, because Panduranga himself has come to fill what was missing in him.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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