Devotion, holding God within
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझें वर्म ठावें । माझ्या पाडियेलें भावें ॥१॥
रूप कासवाचे परी । धरुनि राहेन अंतरीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नेदी होऊं तुटी । मेळवीन दृष्टादृष्टी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा । चिंतन ते तुझी सेवा ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I know your weak point, and I have won you over through devotion. Like a tortoise that withdraws its limbs, I will hold your form steadfastly within. I will not let it become anything else; I will not release the grip. Says Tuka, what can the world do now? I have seized the Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I know your weak point; I have brought you down by my love. Like a tortoise drawing in its limbs, I will hold your form and stay within. I will not let the bond break; I will keep our eyes meeting, sight to sight. Tuka says: O God, this remembering of you is itself my service to you.
What it means
Tukaram speaks with the boldness of a lover who has found God's one soft spot, and that weak point is devotion itself. Like a tortoise pulling its limbs inside, he draws God's form deep within and clamps down so the grip cannot loosen. He refuses to let the bond snap, keeping gaze locked on gaze. The final turn is gentle: simply holding God in remembrance, contemplating him without pause, is the whole of the worship he owes.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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