Adoration, the bridal voice
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
राजस सुकुमार मदनाचा पुतळा । रविशशिकळा लोपलिया ॥१॥
कस्तुरीमळवट चंदनाची उटी । रुळे माळ कंठीं वैजयंती ॥ध्रु.॥
मुगुट कुंडले श्रीमुख शोभलें । सुखाचें ओतलें सकळ ही ॥२॥
कासे सोनसळा पांघरे पाटोळा । घननीळ सांवळा बाइयानो ॥३॥
सकळ ही तुम्ही व्हा गे एकीसवा । तुका म्हणे जीवा धीर नाहीं ॥४॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He is radiant, tender-limbed, an idol of Love itself, eclipsing the splendor of sun and moon. A musk-mark on the brow, sandalwood paste upon the body, the Vaijayanti garland swaying at his throat. Crown and earrings adorn that luminous face; he is joy poured into form. A golden silk at the waist, a Paithani draped on the shoulders, and his complexion dark as a rain-filled cloud, O women. Come together now, all of you, says Tuka, for my heart has no steadiness left.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He is radiant and tender, beauty itself, putting the sun and the moon to shame. A musk mark on his brow, sandal paste on his body, the long Vaijayanti garland swaying at his neck. Crown and earrings, that shining face, joy poured into a shape. Golden silk at the waist, fine cloth across his shoulders, his skin dark as a rain cloud. Friends, come, all of you, together. Tuka says: my heart cannot hold still any longer.
What it means
Here Tukaram speaks in the voice of a young woman calling her friends to come and look at the dark Lord. This is the bridal mood of bhakti, where the soul's love for God is sung as a girl's helpless love at the sight of her beloved. He piles up the beautiful details, not as a catalogue, but as someone who cannot look away and cannot keep the feeling to herself. The last line is the real subject: the heart has lost its composure. Devotion here is not calm. It is the loss of all steadiness before beauty.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →