Devotion, leave the bond as it is
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसा चि तो गोवा । न पाहिजे केला देवा ॥1॥
बहु आली दुरिवरी । ओढत हे भरोवरी ॥ध्रु.॥
आह्मांसी न कळे । तुह्मी झाकुं नये डोळे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे संगें । असों एक एका अंगें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let this bond with God remain as it is; do not try to reshape it. The tug and pull of this devotion has come from far away. We may not understand it, but You must not close Your eyes to it. Says Tuka, let us remain together, body and soul.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Leave this bond as it is, O God; do not try to remake it. The pull and tug of it has come from far away. We may not understand it, but You must not shut Your eyes to it. Tuka says: let us stay together, each at the other's side.
What it means
Tukaram asks God not to tamper with the love that already binds them. He treats the bond as something settled, with a tug that reaches back a long way, perhaps across lives, and wants it left untouched. He admits he cannot fully understand the pull, but insists God has no right to look away from it. The prayer ends plainly: let the two of them simply remain together, side by side, with no distance allowed between them.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →