Devotion, praise of the giver of life
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जेणें हा जीव दिला दान । तयाचें करीन चिंतन । जगजीवन नारायण । गाईन गुण तयाचे ॥1॥
जो या उभा भीवरेच्या तिरीं । कट धरूनियां करीं । पाउलें सम चि साजिरीं । अंतरीं धरोनि राहेन ॥ध्रु.॥
जो या असुरांचा काळ । भक्तजनप्रतिपाळ । खेळे हीं लाघवें सकळ । तयाच्या भाळ पायांवरी ॥2॥
जो या गोपाळांच्या मेळीं । खेळु खेळे वनमाळी । रसातळा नेला बळी । राहे पाताळीं स्वामी माझा ॥3॥
जो हा लावण्यपुतळा । जयाचे अंगीं सकळ कळा । जयाचे गळां वैजयंतीमाळा । तया वेळोवेळां दंडवत ॥4॥
जयाचे नाम पाप नासी । लक्ष्मी ऐसी जयाची दासी । जो हा तेजोपुंज्यरासी । सर्वभावें त्यासि तुका शरण ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will meditate upon the One who gave this life as a gift. I will sing the virtues of Narayana, the life of the world. He who stands on the bank of the Bhima, hands upon His waist, with beautiful even feet, I will hold Him forever in my heart. He who is death to the demons, the protector of His devotees, who plays all these wondrous games, at His feet I bow my head. He who played among the cowherd boys, that Vanamali, who sent Bali to the netherworld and dwells in the depths, my Lord. He who is an image of beauty, who possesses all arts, who wears the Vaijayanti garland around His neck, to Him I prostrate again and again. He whose name destroys sin, whose servant is Lakshmi herself, who is a mass of radiance, to Him Says Tuka, I surrender with my whole being.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He gave this life as a gift. I will think on him. I will sing the virtues of Narayana, the life of the world. He stands on the bank of the Bhima, hands resting on his waist, his even feet so lovely. I will hold him in my heart and stay there. He is death to the demons and the keeper of his devotees. He plays all these wonders by his sleight. At his feet I lay my brow. He played among the cowherd boys, that Vanamali. He sent Bali down to the lower world and dwells there in the depths, my Lord. He is an image of beauty; in his body are all the arts; around his neck is the Vaijayanti garland. Time and again I bow flat before him. His name destroys sin. Lakshmi herself is his servant. He is a heap of pure light. With my whole being, Tuka takes refuge in him.
What it means
Tukaram answers the gift of his own life with the only return he can make: continual remembrance and song. He builds up Vitthal feature by feature, the figure standing on the Bhima's bank with hands on his waist, the slayer of demons who shelters his devotees, the cowherd Vanamali who once humbled Bali, the beautiful one garlanded with the Vaijayanti. The piling of names and deeds is itself the worship; each one is a reason to bow. By naming that Lakshmi is his servant and his very name destroys sin, Tukaram measures how far this Lord outranks anything else he could turn to. So the abhanga ends where it must, in total surrender of his whole being.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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