Devotion, song made easy in kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हतील जपें नव्हतील तपें । आह्मांसी हें सोपें गीतीं गातां ॥1॥
न करितां ध्यान न करितां धारणा । तो नाचे कीर्त्तनामाजी हरि ॥ध्रु.॥
जयासी नाहीं रूप आणि आकार । तो चि कटी कर उभा विटे ॥2॥
अनंत ब्रह्मांडें जयाचिया पोटीं । तो आह्मां संपुष्टीं भक्तिभावें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे वर्म जाणती लडिवाळें । जें होतीं निर्मळें अंतर्बाहीं ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There were no austerities, no penances for us; this singing in devotion comes easily. Without meditation or concentration, Hari Himself dances in the kirtan. The one who has neither form nor shape stands with hands on hips upon the brick. He in whose belly reside infinite universes comes near to us through the power of devotion. Says Tuka, the beloved children know the secret, for they are pure within and without.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We had no austerities, no penances. For us this is easy: we just sing in the songs. Without meditation, without holding the mind in concentration, Hari himself dances in the kirtan. The one who has no form and no shape stands there, hands on his hips, upon the brick. The one in whose belly the endless universes lie comes close to us through plain devotion. Tuka says: the loving children know the secret. They are clean within and without.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts the hard road of austerity with the easy road of song, and says God meets him on the easy one. No penance, no disciplined meditation: just singing, and Hari himself comes and dances in the kirtan. He marks the wonder of it, that the formless one stands embodied on the brick at Pandhari and that the one who holds all the universes draws near through simple devotion. The closing line names the price that is not a price: the secret belongs to those who become like trusting children, pure inside and out, which is what devotional singing works in them.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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