Pilgrimage, the city that burns sin
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जया दोषां परीहार । नाहीं नाहीं धुंडितां शास्त्र । ते हरती अपार । पंढरपुर देखिलिया ॥१॥
धन्य धन्य भीमातीर । चंद्रभागा सरोवर । पद्मातीर्थी विठ्ठल वीर । क्रीडास्थळ वेणुनादीं ॥ध्रु.॥
सकळतीर्थांचें माहेर । भूवैकुंठ निर्विकार । होतो नामाचा गजर । असुरकाळ कांपती ॥२॥
नाहीं उपमा द्यावया । सम तुल्य आणिका ठाया । धन्य भाग्य जयां । जे पंढरपूर देखती ॥३॥
उपजोनि संसारीं । एक वेळ पाहें पा पंढरी । महा दोषां कैची उरी । देवभक्त देखिलिया ॥४॥
ऐसी विष्णूची नगरी । चतुर्भुज नर नारी । सुदर्शन घरटी करी । रीग न पुरे कळिकाळा ॥५॥
तें सुख वर्णावया गति । एवढी कैची मज मति । जे पंढरपुरा जाती । ते पावती वैकुंठ ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे या शब्दाचा । जया विश्वास नाहीं साचा । अधम जन्मांतरिचा । तया पंढरी नावडे ॥७॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those sins for which no remedy can be found even after searching all the scriptures are destroyed simply by seeing Pandharpur. Blessed, blessed is the bank of the Bhima, the lake of the Chandrabhaga. Vitthal, the hero, stands at Padmatirtha, his playground of the flute's melody. Pandharpur is the mother-home of all sacred places, the Vaikuntha on earth, beyond all duality. The chanting of the Name resounds there, and demons and Death tremble. There is no comparison to be given; no other place is its equal. Blessed is the fortune of those who behold Pandharpur. If you are born in this world, see Pandhari just once. When you behold God and his devotees, even the greatest sins cannot survive. Such is Vishnu's city, where men and women bear four-armed forms, where the Sudarshana discus makes its nest, and where Death itself cannot enter. The bliss of that place is beyond my capacity to describe. Says Tuka, those who go to Pandharpur attain Vaikuntha, and whoever does not trust these words is a wretch of many lifetimes; he will find no love for Pandhari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The sins for which no remedy can be found, search the scriptures as you will, are destroyed past counting simply by seeing Pandharpur. Blessed, blessed is the bank of the Bhima, the lake of the Chandrabhaga. Vitthal the hero stands at Padmatirtha, his playground of the flute's song. Pandharpur is the mother-home of all holy places, the Vaikuntha on earth, beyond all change. The chanting of the Name resounds there, and demons and Death tremble. There is nothing to compare it to; no other place is its equal. Blessed is the fortune of those who behold Pandharpur. If you are born into this world, see Pandhari just once. When you behold God and his devotees, even the greatest sins cannot survive. Such is Vishnu's city: men and women bear four-armed forms, the Sudarshana discus makes its nest there, and Death cannot enter. The bliss of that place is beyond my power to describe. Tuka says: those who go to Pandharpur reach Vaikuntha; whoever does not truly trust these words is a wretch of many lifetimes, and Pandhari will hold no love for him.
What it means
Tukaram makes a sweeping claim: sins that no rite or scripture can wipe away are burned up just by the sight of Pandharpur. He praises the river Bhima, the Chandrabhaga, and Padmatirtha where Vitthal plays his flute, calling the town the source and mother of every holy place, a Vaikuntha set on earth. The stakes are framed against the other great pilgrimages and against death itself: this is Vishnu's own city, where Death cannot pass the gate. He ends with a sharp edge that the poem does not soften: to behold God and his devotees is to outlive every sin, and the one who will not trust this is named a soul wretched across many births, for whom even Pandhari holds no welcome.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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