Wonder, the devotee who made God wait
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां रे पुंडएा मातलासी । उभें केलें विठ्ठलासी ॥1॥
ऐसा कैसा रे तूं धीट । मागें भिरकाविली वीट ॥ध्रु.॥
युगें जालीं अठ्ठावीस । अजुनी न ह्मणसी बैस ॥2॥
भाव देखोनि निकट । देवें सोडिलें वैकुंठ ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे पुंडलिका । तूं चि बिळया एक निका ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Pundalik, what boldness! You have kept Vitthal standing upright. How daring you are, having tossed the brick behind you. Twenty-eight ages have passed, and still you have not told Him to sit. Seeing your devotion up close, God left Vaikuntha behind. Says Tuka, O Pundalik, you alone are the one truly powerful devotee.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Pundalik, what nerve! You have made Vitthal stand there upright. How bold you are, having thrown the brick behind you. Twenty-eight ages have passed, and still you do not say, sit. Seeing your love so close, God left Vaikuntha behind. Tuka says: Pundalik, you alone are the one truly mighty devotee.
What it means
Tukaram retells the founding story of Pandharpur with delighted mock-scolding: Pundalik, tending his parents, tossed a brick for the Lord to stand on and never told him to sit, so Vitthal has stood waiting for twenty-eight ages. The teasing is praise in disguise. Such audacity is only possible because Pundalik's love drew God out of Vaikuntha to the riverbank in the first place. The poem celebrates a devotion so intimate it can keep God standing, and names Pundalik the truly powerful one, since love, not force, is what binds the Lord.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →