Devotion, God remembered with every morsel
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एके ठायीं अन्नपाणी । ग्रासोग्रासीं चिंतनीं ॥1॥
वेळोवेळां जागवितों । दुजें येइल ह्मुण भीतों ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं हीं गुंतत उपचारीं । मानदंभाचे वेव्हारीं ॥2॥
तुका जालासे शाहाणा । आड लपे नारायणा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In one place I take my food and water, contemplating God with every morsel. I keep myself awake at every moment, fearing that something else may enter. I do not get entangled in rituals or the dealings of pride and pretense. Says Tuka, having grown wise, he hides behind Narayana.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In one place I take my food and water. With every mouthful I think of God. Again and again I keep myself awake, afraid that something else will slip in. I do not get tangled in rituals, in the dealings of pride and pretense. Tuka says: having grown wise, he hides himself behind Narayana.
What it means
Tukaram describes a life narrowed to one constant: remembrance of God woven into the plainest act of eating, with every morsel a thought of God. He keeps vigilant on purpose, afraid that anything else could creep in and take that place. He deliberately stays clear of ritual show and the transactions of pride and pretense, which only feed the ego. The wisdom he claims is to disappear: instead of standing forward as a doer, he hides himself behind Narayana, letting God be the cover.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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