Devotion, Pandhari is Kashi itself
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उमा रमा एके सरी । वाराणसी ते पंढरी ॥1॥
दोघे सारिखे सारिखे । विश्वनाथ विठ्ठल सखे ॥ध्रु.॥
तेथें असे भागीरथी। येथें जाणा भीमरथी ॥2॥
वाराणशी त्रिशुलावरी । सुदर्शनावरि पंढरी ॥3॥
मनकणिनका मनोहर । चंद्रभागा सरोवर ॥4॥
वाराणशी भैरवकाळ । पुंडलीक क्षेत्रपाळ ॥5॥
धुंडिराज दंडपाणी। उभा गरुड कर जोडुनी ॥6॥
गया ते चि गोपाळपुर । प्रयाग निरानरसिंपुर ॥7॥
तेथें असती गयावळ । येथें गाई आणि गोपाळ॥8॥
शमीपत्रपिंड देती । येथें काला निजसुखप्रािप्त ॥9॥
संतसज्जनीं केला काला । तुका प्रसाद लाधला ॥10॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Uma and Rama stand equal; Varanasi is the same as Pandhari. Both are alike: Vishwanath and Vitthal are friends. The Ganga flows there; know that the Bhima flows here. Varanasi rests on the trident; Pandhari rests on the Sudarshana discus. The beautiful Manikarnika ghat corresponds to the splendid Chandrabhaga. Bhairava guards Varanasi; Pundalika is the guardian of this sacred land. Dhundiraja stands with his staff there; here stands Garuda with hands folded. Gaya is the same as Gopalpur; Prayag is the same as Narasimhapur. Gayawals serve there; here, cows and cowherds serve. There, offerings are made with shami leaves; here, the offering is the attainment of true bliss. Says Tuka, the saints and the good performed the rites, and Tuka received the grace.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Uma and Rama are equal. Varanasi and Pandhari are one. The two are alike, alike: Vishwanath and Vitthal are friends. The Ganga flows there. Know that the Bhima flows here. Varanasi rests on the trident. Pandhari rests on the Sudarshana discus. The lovely Manikarnika ghat is here the splendid Chandrabhaga. Bhairava guards Varanasi. Pundalika guards this holy place. Dhundiraja stands there with his staff. Here Garuda stands with folded hands. Gaya is this same Gopalpur. Prayag is this same Narasimhapur. Pilgrim-priests serve there. Here cows and cowherds serve. There they offer the rice-ball with shami leaves. Here the offering is the gaining of one's own bliss. Tuka says: the saints and the good made the shared meal, and Tuka received the grace.
What it means
Tukaram answers the pilgrim who travels far to Kashi by mapping every holy thing of the north onto his own Pandharpur. Point by point he matches them: Uma to Rama, Vishwanath to Vitthal, the Ganga to the Bhima river, the Manikarnika ghat to the Chandrabhaga, Gaya and Prayag to local shrines, even the guardian deities and the serving priests. The claim is that one need not go anywhere, because Pandhari already holds all of it. The closing line lifts the comparison higher: where Kashi offers ritual rice-balls to the dead, Pandhari offers the attainment of one's own bliss, the shared meal of the saints, and that is the grace Tukaram says he has received.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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