Devotion, the tender feet on the brick
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गुणा आला ईटेवरी । पीतांबरधारी सुंदर जो ॥1॥
डोळे कान त्याच्या ठायीं । मन पायीं राहो हें ॥ध्रु.॥
निवारोनी जाय माया । ऐसी छाया जयासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे समध्यान । हे चरण सकुमार ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He has come to the edge of the brick, that beautiful one clad in a yellow garment. Let my eyes and ears be fixed upon Him. Let this mind remain at His feet. His very shadow banishes illusion from all who are near. Says Tuka, meditate evenly upon these tender and delicate feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He has come and stood upon the brick, that beautiful one in the yellow garment. Let my eyes and my ears rest on Him. Let this mind stay at His feet. His shadow alone drives illusion away. Tuka says: meditate steadily on these tender, delicate feet.
What it means
Tukaram fixes his whole attention on Vitthal standing on the brick at Pandharpur, beautiful in his yellow silk. He gathers his senses, eyes and ears, onto that single form, and asks that his mind settle at the feet and not move. He names what the feet do: even their shadow scatters Maya, the illusion that ordinarily holds the soul. The closing instruction is plain and practical, to hold a steady meditation on those tender feet, making the standing image at the shrine the one resting place of the mind.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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