Devotion, guarding one single longing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी पाहा कैसीं एकतत्त्व जालों । राखणे लागलों वासनेसी ॥1॥
तुह्मांविण कांहीं नावडावें जीवा । केला तो चि देवा केला पण ॥ध्रु.॥
वर्म नेणों परि वृत्ती भंगों नेदुं । वंदिलें चि वंदूं आवडीनें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कळे नामाचें जीवन । वारता ही भिन्न नेणों आतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
See how I have become one in essence, standing guard over my longing. My jiva will not love anything apart from You; this is the vow I have made, O Lord. I may not know the secret, but I will not let my devotion break; what I have worshipped, I will continue to worship with love. Says Tuka, I know that the Name is the very water of life; I will entertain no thought separate from it now.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
See how I have become one in essence. I have set myself to guard this one longing. My soul will love nothing apart from you. That is the vow I have made, Lord. I may not know the secret, but I will not let my devotion break. What I have worshipped, I will go on worshipping with love. Tuka says: I know the Name is the very water of life. I will hold no thought apart from it now.
What it means
Tukaram describes a self that has gathered into a single point: he stands watch over one longing and lets nothing scatter it. He has vowed that his soul will love nothing but God. He does not claim to grasp the hidden secret of things, but he refuses to let his steady devotion crack, and he will keep worshipping what he has worshipped. The Name, he says, is the water that keeps life alive, and he will entertain no thought separate from it. The abhanga is a quiet declaration of one-pointed loyalty rather than a demand.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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