The true shrine, come quickly
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
साच माझा देव्हारा । भाक ठेवा भाव खरा । त्रिगुणाचा फुलवरा । आणा विनति सांगतों ॥१॥
माझें दैवत हें रंगीं । नाचे वैष्णवांच्या संगीं । भरलें मग अंगीं । निवाड करी दोहींचा ॥ध्रु.॥
तुझें आहे तुजपासीं । परि तूं जागा चुकलासी । चिवडुनियां नासी । तुझ्या घरिच्यांनीं केली ॥२॥
आतां न पडे ठावें । वांचूनियां माझ्या देवें । अंधकार व्हावें । नासु ठाव शोधावा ॥३॥
आंधळ्यासी डोळे । देते पांगुळासी पाय । वांजा पुत्र फळे । नवस पुरविते विठाई ॥४॥
उगविलीं कोडीं । मागें कितेकांचीं बापुडीं । तुका म्हणे घडी । न लगे नवस द्या आधीं ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My shrine is true; place your vow there with honest devotion. Bring a garland of the three qualities and I will tell you what I know. My deity dances in the company of the devoted and, once possessed, settles all disputes. What belongs to you is right beside you, but you have lost your way; your own household has plundered and ruined it. Without my God the darkness cannot be cleared; one must search the ground. She gives eyes to the blind and feet to the lame; she grants a son to the barren. Says Tuka, she has solved the riddles of so many wretched souls; do not delay, make your vow at once.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My shrine is the true one. Make your vow here, with real faith. Bring a garland of the three qualities, and I will tell you what I know. My deity dances in the company of the devout. Once she fills the body, she settles every dispute. What you are looking for is right beside you, but you have lost the place. Your own household has plundered it and laid it waste. Now there is no way to find it again, except through my God. The darkness must break; the ground must be searched. She gives eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, a son to the barren. Vithai grants the vow. She has untangled the knots of so many wretched souls before you. Tuka says: it takes no time at all; make your vow first.
What it means
Tukaram speaks as one who has found the real place of worship and is calling others to it. The thing they are searching for, he says, is already right beside them; they have simply lost their bearings, and their own habits have ransacked it. Vithai, the Goddess form of Vitthal, is named as the one who fixes the dimmed senses, restores what was barren, and unties the knots of life. The point is not magical favors but trust: he tells them to stop delaying and place their vow at this true shrine first, before anything else.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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