Devotion in form, the Name is enough
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघ्या दशा येणें साधती । मुख्य उपासना सगुणभक्ती। प्रगटे हृदयींची मूर्ती । भावशुिद्ध जाणोनियां ॥1॥
बीज आणि फळ हरींचे नाम । सकळ पुण्य सकळ धर्म । सकळां कळांचें हे वर्म। निवारी श्रम सकळ ही ॥ध्रु.॥
जेथें कीर्तन हें नामघोष । करिती निर्लज्ज हरीचे दास । सकळ वोथंबले रस । तुटती पाश भवबंधाचे ॥2॥
येती अंगा वसती लक्षणें । अंतरीं देवें धरिलें ठाणें। आपण चि येती तयाचा गुण । जाणें येणें खुंटे वस्तीचें ॥3॥
न लगे सांडावा आश्रम । उपजले कुळींचे धर्म । आणीक न करावे श्रम । एक पुरे नाम विठोबाचें ॥4॥
वेदपुरुष नारायण । योगियांचें ब्रह्म शून्य । मुक्ता आत्मा परिपूर्ण । तुका ह्मणे सगुण भोळ्या आह्मां ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All spiritual states are attained through the primary practice of devotion to the Lord in form. The image within the heart reveals itself when it recognizes the purity of one's devotion. The Name of Hari is both the seed and the fruit, all merit, all righteousness, and the key to every art. It dispels all weariness. Where the Name is chanted aloud and Hari's devotees sing without shame, all nectar overflows and the bonds of worldly existence are severed. The marks of devotion appear on the body when God has taken His seat within. His virtues come of their own accord, and the cycle of coming and going ceases. There is no need to abandon one's station in life or the duties of one's heritage. No other effort is required; the Name of Vithoba alone is enough. The Vedas call Him Narayana; the yogis know Him as the void Brahman; to the liberated He is the perfect Self. Says Tuka, for us He is the Lord we can enjoy in form.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Every state is reached by this: the chief practice is devotion to the Lord in form. The image hidden in the heart shows itself when it knows that one's love is pure. The Name of Hari is the seed and the fruit, all merit, all duty. It is the heart of every art, and it clears away all weariness. Where the Name is sung aloud, where Hari's servants sing without shame, all the nectars brim over and the cords of worldly bondage are cut. The marks of devotion settle on the body when God has taken his seat within. His virtues come of their own accord, and the coming and going of birth ends. You need not give up your station in life or the duties you were born to. No other labor is needed. The one Name of Vithoba is enough. The Vedas call him Narayana. The yogis know him as the empty Brahman. To the liberated he is the perfect Self. Tuka says: for us he is the Lord we enjoy in form.
What it means
Tukaram is laying out his path plainly: the way to every spiritual state is loving devotion to God in form, and the form hidden in the heart only shows itself once the love is sincere. The engine of it is the Name of Hari, which he calls both seed and fruit, the sum of all merit and duty, enough by itself to cut the bonds of birth and death. He insists the practice needs no withdrawal: keep your place in life and your inherited duties, add no other labor, because the single Name of Vithoba suffices, and the marks of devotion appear once God settles within. The close sets his choice against the alternatives, naming how the Vedas, the yogis, and the liberated each conceive God, and claiming that for ordinary devotees like him the Lord one can love in visible form is the true gift.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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