Devotion, service with folded hands
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपुलिये टाकीं । करीन कांहीं तरी एकी ॥1॥
करीन पायांशीं वोळखी । करिसी तें करीं सुखीं ॥ध्रु.॥
कायाक्लेशगंगाजळ । समर्पीन तुळसीदळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । कर जोडीन ते सेवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
By my own effort I will do at least something. I will make acquaintance with Your feet, and whatever You do, I will accept with joy. I will offer the holy water of bodily toil and the tulasi leaf of my devotion. Says Tuka, O Lord, this service of folded hands is my worship.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
By my own effort I will do at least some one thing. I will get to know Your feet. Whatever You do, I will take it gladly. I will offer the Ganga-water of bodily toil. I will offer the tulasi leaf of my heart. Tuka says: O God, with folded hands, that is the service I will give.
What it means
Tukaram offers a humble, doable devotion rather than a grand one. He promises to do at least some single act with his own effort, to make acquaintance with the Lord's feet, and to accept gladly whatever the Lord sends. His offerings are simple and within reach: the sacred water of his own bodily labor and the tulasi leaf of his devotion, the poor man's worship. The point is that worship need not be costly; folded hands, honest toil, and a willing heart are themselves the whole of service.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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