Devotion, only Pandhari counts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तीथॉ केलीं कोटीवरी । नाहीं देखिली पंढरी ॥1॥
जळो त्याचें ज्यालेंपण । न देखे चि समचरण ॥ध्रु.॥
योग याग अनंत केले । नाहीं समचरण देखिले ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे विठ्ठलपायीं। अनंत तीथॉ घडिलीं पाहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One may have made ten million pilgrimages and still not seen Pandhari. Let his very birth burn, for it has never beheld the even feet of the Lord. Infinite rituals and sacrifices may be performed, yet without seeing those even feet, all is in vain. Says Tuka, at the feet of Vitthal, countless holy places are contained.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One may make ten million pilgrimages and still never see Pandhari. Let his very life burn, for it has never seen the even feet of the Lord. He may perform endless yogas and sacrifices, yet has not seen those even feet. Tuka says: at Vitthal's feet, countless holy places are held.
What it means
Tukaram measures all sacred effort against one thing: standing before Vitthal on the brick at Pandhari. A man may rack up ten million pilgrimages and perform yoga and sacrifice without end, and Tukaram calls the whole heap empty if it never brought him to those even feet. His harsh line, let such a life burn, is aimed at the pattern of busy religion that misses its own center, not at any person. The closing claim reverses the math: the feet of Vitthal already contain every holy place there is. To reach them is to have made all the pilgrimages at once; to miss them is to have made none.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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