Adoration, the king on his throne
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
रत्नजडित सिंहासन । वरी बैसले आपण ॥१॥
कुंचे ढळती दोहीं बाहीं । जवळी रखुमाई राही ॥ध्रु.॥
नाना उपचारीं । सिद्धि वोळगती कामारी ॥२॥
हातीं घेऊनि पादुका । उभा बंदिजन तुका ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Upon a jewel-studded throne he sits in person. Royal fans wave on either side, and Rukhmabai and Rahi stand close by. Innumerable powers attend him like servants, bringing every manner of offering. Says Tuka, I stand holding his sandals, a bard at his door.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
On a jewel-studded throne he himself sits. Royal whisks wave on both sides. Rakhumai and Rahi stay close beside him. All the powers and perfections wait on him like serving-maids, with every kind of offering. Tuka says: holding his sandals in my hands, I stand, a servant at his gate.
What it means
Tukaram pictures Vitthal in full royal majesty, a king enthroned and attended. He sits on a jewel-studded throne with fans waving on either side and his consorts Rakhumai and Rahi beside him. Even the siddhis, the supernatural powers that yogis chase after, are reduced here to handmaids waiting on him with their offerings; nothing is greater than the Lord himself. Against all that grandeur Tukaram chooses the lowest place for himself: holding the Lord's sandals, standing as a doorkeeper or attendant. The contrast is the point, that the highest honor a devotee desires is simply to serve at the feet of the King of kings.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →