Praise of Ganesha, remover of obstacles
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धरोनियां फरश करी । भक्तजनाचीं विघ्नें वारी॥1॥
ऐसा गजानन महाराजा । त्याचें चरणीं हालो लागो माझा ॥ध्रु.॥
सेंदुर शमी बहुिप्रय ज्याला । तुरा दुर्वांचा शोभला ॥2॥
उंदिर असे जयाचें वहन । माथां जडितमुगुट पूर्ण ॥3॥
नागयज्ञोपवीत रुळे । शुभ्र वस्त्र शोभित साजिरें ॥4॥
भावमोदक हराभरी । तुका भावें हे पूजा करी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Wielding the axe in hand, He removes the obstacles of His devotees. Such is the great Lord Gajanan. May my allegiance rest forever at His feet. He is fond of vermilion and shami leaves; a tuft of durva grass adorns Him. A mouse is His mount, and a jeweled crown graces His head. The sacred thread of a serpent hangs across His chest, and bright garments shine beautifully upon Him. Says Tuka, I worship Him with modakas of pure devotion, offered in abundance.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He holds the axe in his hand and clears away the obstacles of his devotees. Such is the great Lord Gajanan. Let my allegiance rest at his feet. He loves vermilion and shami leaves; a tuft of durva grass adorns him. A mouse is his mount; a jeweled crown is full upon his head. The serpent's sacred thread hangs across him; bright, lovely garments shine on him. Tuka says: I offer him modakas of pure feeling, in plenty, and worship him with love.
What it means
Tukaram praises Gajanan, the elephant-faced Ganesha, the one called on to remove obstacles before any undertaking. He names the god by his familiar marks: the axe that clears the way, the vermilion and shami and durva offerings, the mouse he rides, the jeweled crown, the serpent worn as a sacred thread. The frame the plain layer withholds is that this is itself an act of worship, an invocation at a beginning. The closing turn is the heart of it: the true offering is not the ritual modaka but the modaka of feeling, devotion shaped into the sweet placed before God. Tuka asks only that his allegiance stay fixed at those feet.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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