Devotion, God as the watchful parent
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पुंडलिकाचे निकटसेवे । कैसा धांवे बराडी ॥1॥
आपुलें थोरपण । नारायण विसरला ॥ध्रु.॥
उभा कटीं ठेवुनि कर। न ह्मणे पर बैससें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जगदीशा । करणें आशा भक्तांची ॥3॥
बाळ काय जाणे जीवनउपाय । मायबाप वाहे सर्व चिंता ॥2॥
आइतें भोजन खेळणें अंतरीं । अंकिताचे शिरीं भार नाहीं ॥ध्रु
आपुलें शरीर रिक्षतां न कळें । सांभाळूनि लळे पाळी माय ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझा विठ्ठल जनिता । जेथें आमची सत्ता तयावरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
See how He runs at Pundalik's devoted service, crying out with abandon. Narayana has forgotten His own greatness, standing with hands on His hips, never saying He wishes to sit. Says Tuka, the Lord of the universe fulfills the hopes of His devotees. A child knows nothing of how to sustain life; the mother and father carry all the worry. With food served and play within, one who belongs to the Lord bears no burden. The body is cared for without one's knowing; the mother protects and indulges with love. Says Tuka, my Vitthal is my parent, and my authority rests upon Him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
See how He runs to the close service of Pundalik. He comes like a beggar in his eagerness. Narayana has forgotten His own greatness. He stands with His hands on His hips. He does not even say that He would like to sit. Tuka says: the Lord of the world makes good the hopes of His devotees. What does a child know of how to keep itself alive? The mother and father carry every worry. Food is set ready; play fills its heart. The one who belongs has no weight to bear. The body is tended without the child knowing it. The mother guards it and indulges its wants. Tuka says: my Vitthal is my parent, the one over whom I hold my claim.
What it means
Tukaram reads the famous image of Vitthal standing on the brick at Pandhari as God's self-forgetfulness in love. Eager to serve Pundalik, the Lord drops His majesty and stands waiting with hands on hips, asking for nothing. The poem then turns to the parallel he wants: God is the parent and the devotee the helpless child. A child cannot keep itself alive; it only plays, while mother and father carry all the worry and tend the body unawares. So Tukaram claims a child's right over Vitthal, the right to be carried, the burden being entirely God's and not his own.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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