Pilgrimage to Pandhari, meeting Brahman
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जातां पंढरीच्या मागॉ । काय वणूप सुखा मग ॥1॥
घडे लाभ लक्षकोटि । परब्रह्मीं होइल भेटी ॥ध्रु.॥
नाम गर्जत येती संत । त्यांच्या दर्शनें होईजे मुक्त ॥2॥
जो अलक्ष्य ब्रह्मादिकां । आला संनिध ह्मणे तुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Walking the road to Pandhari, how can I describe the joy that follows? Gain beyond counting is earned; one meets the Supreme Brahman. The saints come chanting the Name in a roar; by their mere sight one is set free. He who is beyond the reach of even Brahma has come close. Says Tuka, He stands right here.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Walking the road to Pandhari, how can I describe the joy that follows? The gain is past all counting; one meets the Supreme Brahman. The saints come chanting the Name in a roar, and at the mere sight of them one is set free. Tuka says: He who is beyond the reach of even Brahma and the gods has come near, He stands right here.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the pilgrimage to Pandhari as a road whose reward cannot be measured. He says the walk itself ends in meeting the Supreme Brahman, the very absolute that philosophy strains toward. The saints walking the same road, chanting the Name aloud, are themselves freeing: their sight alone releases you. The startling claim he lands is that the God whom even Brahma and the high gods cannot reach has come close and stands right here, on this road, with these pilgrims.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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