Invocation, Ganapati and the flood
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
प्रथम नमन तुज एकदंता । रंगीं रसाळ वोडवीं कथा। मति सौरस करीं प्रबळता । जेणें फिटे आतां अंधकार ॥1॥
तुझिये कृपेचें भरितें । आणीक काय राहिलें तेथें । मारग सिद्धाच्यानि पंथें। पावविसी तेथें तूं चि एक ॥ध्रु.॥
आरंभा आदि तुझें वंदन । सकळ करितां कारण । देव ॠषि मुनि आदिकरुन । ग्रंथ पुराण निर्माणी ॥2॥
काय वणूप तुझी गती । एवढी कैची मज मती । दिनानाथ तुज ह्मणती । करी । करीं सत्य वचन हें चि आपुलें ॥3॥
मज वाहावतां मायेच्या पुरीं । बुडतां डोहीं भवसागरीं । तुज वांचुनि कोण तारी । पाव झडकरी तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
First I bow to you, O Ganapati, the single-tusked one; fill this recitation with color and sweetness. Strengthen my intellect with power, so that the darkness may be dispelled. When your grace overflows, what else remains lacking? You alone guide us along the proven path of the perfected ones. Your invocation stands at the beginning of every undertaking; gods, sages, and seers alike commence their scriptures and Puranas with it. How can I describe your ways? I do not possess such intellect. They call you the Lord of the humble; now make this promise of yours come true. Says Tuka, as I am swept along in the flood of illusion, drowning in the deep pool of worldly existence, who but you can save me? Come swiftly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
First I bow to you, single-tusked one. Pour color and sweetness into this telling. Strengthen my mind, make it strong, so the darkness lifts now. When your grace floods in, what could still be missing? You alone bring us along the proven path of the perfected ones. Your worship stands at the start of every undertaking; gods, sages, and seers begin their books and Puranas with you. How can I describe your ways? Where would I get such intellect? They call you the Lord of the humble; now make that word of yours come true. As I am swept along in the flood of illusion, drowning in the deep pool of worldly life, who but you can save me? Tuka says: come quickly.
What it means
Tukaram opens a recitation the customary way, bowing first to Ganapati, and asks for the gifts a singer needs: sweetness in the telling and a mind strong enough to clear the dark. He confesses he has no intellect of his own to describe the god's ways, so the whole work rests on grace. Then he leans on the title the god is given, Lord of the humble, and asks him to prove it true. The plea sharpens into an image of danger: he is drowning in the deep water of worldly illusion, with no rescuer but this one. Come quickly, he ends; the invocation is also a cry for help.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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