Devotion, the love of God over the knowledge of Him
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ब्रह्मज्ञान दारीं येतें काकुलती । अव्हेरिलें संतीं विष्णुदासीं॥1॥
रिघों पाहे माजी बळें त्याचें घर । दवडिती दूर ह्मणोनियां ॥2॥
। तुका ह्मणे येथें न चाले सायास । पडिले उदास त्याच्या गळां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The knowledge of Brahman comes pleading to the door, yet the saints and devotees of Vishnu have turned it away. It tries to force its way inside, and so they send it far off. Says Tuka, no effort avails here; that knowledge has fallen fruitless around their necks.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The knowledge of Brahman comes to the door, pleading. The saints, the servants of Vishnu, have turned it away. It tries to force its way inside, and they drive it far off. Tuka says: no effort works here. That knowledge has fallen, useless, around their necks.
What it means
Tukaram stands the usual ranking on its head: here the abstract knowledge of Brahman is the beggar at the door, not the prize. The devotees of Vishnu, who want the living God and not a doctrine about Him, refuse it and push it away even when it forces itself in. The point is that loving God directly is higher than knowing Him as a formless absolute, so all the striving of pure knowledge gets no purchase among the bhaktas. It hangs uselessly around the neck of whoever clings to it, a weight rather than a treasure.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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