Devotion, Vaikuntha brought to earth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैकुंठा जावया तपाचे सायास । करणें जीवा नास न लगे कांहीं ॥१॥
तया पुंडलिकें केला उपकार । फेडावया भार पृथीवीचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सोपी केली पायवाट । पंढरी वैकुंठ भूमीवरी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To reach Vaikuntha there is no need for the ordeals of penance or for destroying one's body. Pundalik rendered that great service to relieve the burden of the earth. Says Tuka, he made the footpath easy: Pandharpur is Vaikuntha right here on the ground.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To go to Vaikuntha there is no need for the strain of penance, no need to destroy the body. Pundalik did that great service, to lift the burden of the earth. Tuka says: he made the footpath easy. Pandhari is Vaikuntha here on the ground.
What it means
Tukaram is saying the highest heaven has been moved within reach. The old route to Vaikuntha demanded harsh penance and the wearing down of the body, and he sets that aside as unnecessary. The reason is Pundalik, whose devotion drew God to stand on the brick at Pandharpur; Tukaram frames this as a service done to relieve the earth's burden. The payoff is the closing claim, and he does not soften it. Pandhari is not a road to Vaikuntha but Vaikuntha itself, laid down on the ground as an easy footpath that ordinary people can simply walk.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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