Pure devotion over cleverness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मांपाशीं सरे एक शुद्ध भाव । चतुराई जाणींव न लगे कळा ॥1॥
सर्वजाण माझा स्वामी पांडुरंग । तया अंगसंगें गोपाळासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कर्मधर्में नये हातां । तयावरि सत्ता भाविकांची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What works for us is pure, simple devotion. Cleverness, worldly knowledge, and subtle arts are not required. My all-knowing master is Panduranga; it is through intimacy with Him that the cowherd boys were blessed. Says Tuka, God cannot be won by rituals or duties alone; sincere devotees hold true sovereignty over Him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What works for us is one thing: pure feeling. Cleverness, knowing, skill, none of it is needed. My master Panduranga knows all; it was by closeness to him that the cowherd boys were blessed. Tuka says: he does not come into your hands by rites and duties. Over him the sincere ones hold the power.
What it means
Tukaram sets simple, pure devotion against worldly intelligence and technique. With God, sincerity is the only currency; learning and subtlety add nothing. He points to Panduranga, who knows everything, and to the cowherds of Vrindavan whose nearness to Krishna, not their cleverness, made them blessed. Then he lands the sharp claim: ritual and duty alone cannot lay hold of God. It is the sincere-hearted who hold a real sway over him, because love, not performance, is what moves him.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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