Devotion, Pandhari greater than every holy place
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जनाचिया मना जावें कासियेसी । माझी वाराणसी पांडुरंग ॥1॥
तेथें भागीरथी येथें भीमरथी । अधिक ह्मणती चंद्रभागा॥ध्रु.॥
तेथें माधवराव येथें यादवराज । जाणोनियां भाव पुंडलिकाचा ॥2॥
विष्णुपद गया ते चि येथें आहे । प्रत्यक्ष हें पाहे विटेवरी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हे चि प्रपंच उद्धरी । आतां पंढरपुरी घडो बापा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let the minds of the people go to Kashi if they wish. My Varanasi is Panduranga. There flows the Ganges; here flows the Bhimrathi. The Chandrabhaga, they say, is even greater. There is Madhavarao; here is Yadavaraj, who recognized Pundalik's devotion. The Vishnupada of Gaya is right here; see it for yourself on the brick. Says Tuka, this alone will deliver our worldly existence; may a visit to Pandharpur be granted, dear father.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let the minds of people go to Kashi if they want. My Varanasi is Panduranga. There flows the Bhagirathi; here flows the Bhimrathi, and they say the Chandrabhaga is greater still. There is Madhavarao; here is Yadavaraj, who knew the love of Pundalik. The Vishnupada of Gaya is right here; see it with your own eyes on the brick. Tuka says: this alone will lift our worldly life; now, dear father, let a visit to Pandharpur be granted to me.
What it means
Tukaram answers the pull of the famous pilgrimage places by setting them all aside for Pandhari. Let others travel to Kashi and Gaya; his Varanasi is Panduranga himself, his sacred river the Chandrabhaga, his holy site the brick where the Lord stands. He matches each great place point for point and claims his own is greater, because here God is present in plain sight, not merely commemorated. The reason he gives is Pundalik, whose love drew the Lord to this very spot. So he ends not with more travel but with a plain prayer: this place alone will carry his worldly life across, so let him simply be granted the visit to Pandharpur.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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