Devotion, refusing the formless for the form
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
इिच्छती तयांसी व्हावें जी अरूप । आह्मांसी स्वरूपिस्थती चाड ॥1॥
आतां नव्हे माझा भाव अनारिसा । पाउलांनी इच्छा गोवियेली ॥ध्रु.॥
लेंकरासी कोठें जाणत्याची परी। करूं येते दुरी धरावया ॥2॥
लागली न सुटे नामाची आवडी। माझी भावजोडी भंगूं नका ॥3॥
घेसील वेढे मुक्तीच्या अभिळासें। चाळवीं जा पिसे ब्रह्मज्ञानी ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे माझा कोठें भक्तिरस। पाडावया ओस चाळविसी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let those who wish seek the formless; my longing is for the state of His living presence. My devotion is no different now; my desires are bound to His feet alone. A child cannot behave like one who is all-knowing; how could I hold the distance? This love for the Name, once tasted, cannot be abandoned; do not break my bond of devotion. You may try to entice me with the allure of liberation; go and beguile the seekers of abstract Brahman-knowledge instead. Says Tuka, why do You try to drain my devotional bliss by luring me toward emptiness?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let those who wish for it seek the formless. My longing is for the state of His living form. My heart is not different now. My desires are tied to His feet alone. A child cannot act like one who knows everything; how could I keep my distance from You? This love for the Name, once it has caught hold, will not let go. Do not break my bond of devotion. You may try to tempt me with the lure of liberation; go and beguile the seekers of bare Brahman-knowledge instead. Tuka says: where is the bliss of my devotion? Why do You try to lure me into emptiness and drain it away?
What it means
Tukaram draws a clear line between two paths and plants himself on one: let others chase the formless absolute, but his longing is fixed on God with form and on His feet. He defends his choice with a child's logic, that a child cannot pretend to be an all-knowing sage and cannot hold itself at a distance from its mother. The poem reads almost as an argument with God, refusing the offer of liberation as a temptation meant for knowledge-seekers, not for him. His fear is precise: that the lure of formless emptiness would drain off the bliss of devotion, and he asks God plainly not to break the bond.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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