Devotion, let it all burn for Vitthal
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जळो ते जाणींव जळो ते शाहाणींव । राहो माझा भाव विठ्ठलपायीं ॥1॥
जळो तो आचार जळो तो विचार । राहो मन स्थीर विठ्ठलपायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
जळो हा लौकिक जळो दंभमान । लागो जीव ध्यान विठ्ठलाचें ॥2॥
जळो हें शरीर जळो हा संबंध । राहो परमानंद माझा कंठीं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे येथे अवघें चि होय । धरीं मना सोय विठोबाची ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let worldly knowledge burn. Let cleverness burn. May my devotion remain fixed at Vitthal's feet. Let ritual burn. Let deliberation burn. May my mind stay steady at Vitthal's feet. Let social standing burn. Let pride and pretense burn. May my life be absorbed in the meditation of Vitthal. Let this body burn. Let all attachments burn. May supreme bliss remain in my chitta. Says Tuka, everything is found here. O mind, take hold of the path to Vithoba.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let that knowing burn. Let that cleverness burn. Let my devotion stay at Vitthal's feet. Let that ritual burn. Let that reasoning burn. Let my mind stand still at Vitthal's feet. Let reputation burn. Let pride and pretense burn. Let my life fix itself on the meditation of Vitthal. Let this body burn. Let this whole web of relations burn. Let supreme bliss stay in my throat. Tuka says: everything is found right here. O mind, take hold of the road to Vithoba.
What it means
Tukaram throws every prized thing onto the fire to keep one thing alone. He calls for knowledge, cleverness, ritual, reasoning, reputation, pride, even the body and all its relationships to burn, refusing to let any of them rank above his goal. What survives the fire is devotion fixed at Vitthal's feet, the mind held steady, the life absorbed in remembering Him, and bliss kept close in the throat. The closing line is the whole teaching: do not look elsewhere, everything you seek is here, so the mind should simply take the road to Vithoba.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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