Devotion, vigilant nearness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वेठी ऐसा भाव । न करी अहाच उपाव ॥1॥
रूप डसवी न जिवा । अवघा ये च ठायीं हेवा ॥ध्रु.॥
कृपणाचेपरि । लेखा पळनिमिषेवरि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आस । संनिध चि जगदीशा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do not approach devotion as forced labor; do not practice it merely as a calculated remedy. Let the divine form be fixed in the soul. Let all desire be concentrated at this one place. Like a miser who counts every passing moment, so should one watch over one's devotion. Says Tuka, longing for the Lord of the world, keep Him ever near.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not take to devotion as forced labor. Do not work it like a clever bargain. Let the form take root in your soul, and let every desire gather at this one place. Like a miser who counts each passing moment, watch over it that closely. Tuka says: keep your longing for the Lord of the world right beside you.
What it means
Tukaram warns against two cheap ways of approaching God: dragging through devotion as though it were a chore, and treating it as a calculated trade for some return. Instead the Lord's form should sink into the soul until every other desire is drawn to that single point. He borrows the miser as a model, not for greed but for attentiveness: a miser guards each moment of his hoard, and devotion deserves that same unbroken watch. The aim is nearness, keeping the longing for God close at every instant rather than setting it aside.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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