Praise of Pandharpur, darshan alone frees
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काशीयात्रा पांच द्वारकेच्या तीन । पंढरीची जाण एक यात्रा ॥1॥
काशी देह विटंबणें द्वारकें जाळणें । पंढरीशी होणें ब्रह्मरूप ॥ध्रु.॥
अठरापगडयाती सकळ हि वैष्णव । दुजा नाहीं भाव पंढरीसि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे असो अथवा नसो भाव । दर्शनें पंढरिराव मोक्ष देतो ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Five pilgrimages to Kashi equal three to Dwarka, but one pilgrimage to Pandhari surpasses them all. At Kashi there is mortification of the body; at Dwarka, burning of the self; but at Pandhari, one becomes Brahman. All eighteen castes and sub-castes become Vaishnavas there; no other distinction exists in Pandhari. Says Tuka, whether devotion is present or absent, the Lord of Pandhari grants liberation through His mere darshan.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Five pilgrimages to Kashi, three to Dwarka, but Pandhari is one single pilgrimage. At Kashi the body is tormented, at Dwarka the self is burned, but at Pandhari one becomes the form of Brahman. All eighteen castes and sub-castes become Vaishnavas there; no other distinction holds in Pandhari. Tuka says: whether you have devotion or not, the Lord of Pandhari gives liberation just by his darshan.
What it means
Tukaram ranks the famous holy places and sets Pandharpur above them all, because the others ask for hard mortification while Pandhari simply makes one Brahman. The second claim is social as much as spiritual: at Pandhari the eighteen castes dissolve into one community of Vaishnavas, with no rank left standing before Vitthal. The last line pushes furthest of all, saying the Lord of Pandhari grants liberation by sight alone, with or without the worshipper's devotion. It places the whole weight of release on God's freely given grace rather than on anything the pilgrim brings.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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