Refuge, the Name and Pandhari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अनाथाचा नाथ पतितपावन । दीनाचें रक्षण करीतसे॥1॥
ऐसें जाणोनियां नामीं विश्वासलों । भीमातिरा आलों धांवत चि ॥ध्रु.॥
स्नान हें करितां त्रिताप निवाले । महाद्वारा आलें मन माझें ॥2॥
तेथें अनुमात्र रीग नव्हे याचा । परतलों साचा तेथूनियां ॥3॥
पुंडलिकापाशीं येऊनि पुसिलें । चिन्मय दाटलें जनादनन ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां दुजा देव नाहीं । बाप तरी आई तो चि विठो ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He is the Lord of the destitute, the Purifier of the Fallen, the Protector of the helpless. Knowing this, I placed my faith in the Name and came running to the banks of the Bhima. Bathing there, the three afflictions were cooled. My mind arrived at the great gateway. But there, not even an atom of sin could enter; I turned back from that point, truly purified. Coming to Pundalik, I asked, and the radiant presence of Janardana filled everything. Says Tuka, now there is no other god. Mother, father: Vittho alone is all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He is the Lord of the orphaned, the Purifier of the fallen. He guards the helpless. Knowing this, I trusted the Name and came running to the bank of the Bhima. I bathed there, and the three torments cooled. My mind reached the great gateway. Not even an atom of sin could enter there. I turned back from that place, truly cleansed. I came to Pundalik and asked, and the radiant Janardana filled everything. Tuka says: now there is no other god. Mother and father, both, are Vittho alone.
What it means
Tukaram traces a pilgrim's path that is also an inner one. He starts from who God is to the helpless, an orphan's lord and a purifier of the fallen, and that knowledge sends him running to the river at Pandhari. The bath cools the three afflictions, and at the temple's great gate he finds sin cannot follow him a single atom further. Coming to Pundalik, the devotee whose love drew Vitthal to Pandhari, he sees the divine presence fill all things. The conclusion is total: there is no second god, and Vitthal is at once mother and father to him.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →