Devotion, every heaven counts as nothing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
परमेष्ठिपदा । तुच्छ करिती सर्वदा ॥१॥
हें चि ज्यांचें धन । सदा हरीचें स्मरण ॥ध्रु.॥
इंद्रपदादिक भोग । भोग नव्हे तो भवरोग ॥२॥
सार्वभौमराज्य । त्यांसि कांहीं नाहीं काज ॥३॥
पाताळींचें आधिपत्य । ते तों मानिती विपत्य ॥४॥
योगसिद्धिसार । ज्यासि वाटे तें असार ॥५॥
मोक्षायेवढें सुख । सुख नव्हे चि तें दुःख ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे हरीविण । त्यासि अवघा वाटे सिण ॥७॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those whose sole wealth is the constant remembrance of Hari regard even the seat of Brahma as trivial. The pleasures of Indra's throne and such heavenly enjoyments are not pleasures at all but the disease of rebirth. They have no use for sovereign rule over the entire earth. Dominion over the netherworlds they consider a calamity. The fruit of yogic powers they deem worthless. Even a joy as great as liberation itself they call suffering, not happiness. Says Tuka, without Hari, everything feels like weariness to them.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They think nothing, always, of the seat of Brahma. Their one wealth is this: the constant remembrance of Hari. The pleasures of Indra's throne and the rest are not pleasures; they are the disease of rebirth. They have no use for rule over the whole earth. Lordship over the netherworlds they count a disaster. The prize of yogic powers seems worthless to them. Even a joy as large as liberation they call suffering, not happiness. Tuka says: without Hari, the whole of it feels like weariness to them.
What it means
Tukaram describes the devotees whose only treasure is the steady remembrance of Hari, and weighs every other reward against it. One by one he refuses the things people strive for: Brahma's seat, Indra's pleasures, rule over the earth, dominion below, the powers won by yoga. He pushes the refusal to its limit by naming liberation itself, the highest goal, as mere suffering when set beside the Name. The reason is given in the last line: for these devotees anything that is not Hari is only weariness, so no heaven and no attainment can tempt them away from him.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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