The pilgrimage, sins flee before Hari's people
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सदैव हे वारकरी । जे पंढरी देखती । पदोपदीं विठ्ठल वाचे । त्यांसी कैचा संसार ॥1॥
दोष पळाले दोष पळाले। पैल आले हरिदास ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रेमभातें भरलें अंगीं । निर्लज्ज रंगीं नाचती । गोपीचंदनाची उटी । तुळसी कंठीं मिरवती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव चित्तीं । मोक्ष हातीं रोकडा । दुर्बळा या शक्तिहीना । त्या ही जना पुरता ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Blessed are those pilgrims who behold Pandhari. Those who carry the name Vitthal on their lips at every step have no worldly bondage. Sins have fled, sins have fled, for the devotees of Hari have arrived. Their bodies are filled with the sustenance of love; shamelessly they dance in His color. They wear the mark of Gopichandan and the tulsi garland around their necks. Says Tuka, with God in their chitta, liberation is right at hand. Even for the weak and the powerless, He is more than enough.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Blessed are these pilgrims who see Pandhari. Those who keep Vitthal on their tongue at every step, what bondage of the world is left for them? Sins have fled, sins have fled; here come the servants of Hari. Their bodies are full of love; with no shame they dance in his color. They wear the mark of Gopichandan and the tulsi garland at the throat. Tuka says: with God in the heart, liberation is right in hand. Even for the weak and the powerless, he is more than enough.
What it means
Tukaram celebrates the Varkari pilgrims who reach Pandhari with Vitthal's name on their lips at every step. He says their worldly bondage is simply gone, and that sins flee at the mere arrival of Hari's devotees. He paints them as people soaked in love who dance without self-consciousness, marked with sandal paste and the tulsi garland of the tradition. The point he lands is that this path is open to everyone: with God held in the heart, liberation is already in hand, and even the weak and powerless find him fully sufficient.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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