Saints, the pilgrimage to Alandi
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चला आळंदीला जाऊं । ज्ञानदेवा डोळां पाहूं ॥1॥
होतिल संताचिया भेटी । सुखाचिया सांगों गोष्टी ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्ञानेश्वर ज्ञानेश्वर । मुखीं ह्मणतां चुकती फेर ॥2॥
तुह्मां जन्म नाहीं एक । तुका ह्मणे माझी भाक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Come, let us go to Alandi and behold Dnyandev with our own eyes. There we shall meet the saints and share words of happiness. By simply repeating 'Dnyaneshwar, Dnyaneshwar,' the cycles of birth and death are broken. Says Tuka, I give you my word: you will not take another birth.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Come, let us go to Alandi and see Dnyandev with our eyes. There the saints will meet us, and we will share words of happiness. Dnyaneshwar, Dnyaneshwar: say it with your mouth, and the rounds of birth are escaped. Tuka says: I give you my word, you will not be born again.
What it means
Tukaram calls the listener to a pilgrimage to Alandi, the seat of the saint Dnyaneshwar, to take darshan and to meet the company of saints there. The journey is framed as joy and shared good company, not duty. Then he raises the stakes: merely saying the name Dnyaneshwar breaks the cycle of repeated birth. He stands behind this with a personal pledge, giving his word that the one who does so will not be born again, which is how strongly he holds the saint and his name to be liberating.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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