Devotion over learning, faith binds God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नेणती वेद श्रुति कोणी । आह्मां भाविकां वांचुनी ॥1॥
रूप आवडे आह्मांशी । तैसी जोडी हृषीकेशी ॥ध्रु.॥
आह्मीं भावें बिळवंत। तुज घालूं हृदयांत ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुज धाक । देतां पावसील हाक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Neither the Vedas nor the scriptures know us; we are known only as simple devotees. His form is what delights us; that union is what we hold with Hrishikesha. By the force of pure faith, we will place You within our hearts. Says Tuka, if we raise a cry to You, You will come running in fear of disappointing us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The Vedas and the scriptures do not know us; only the simple devotees do. It is Your form that delights us; that is the union we hold with Hrishikesha. By the strength of pure faith we will set You inside our hearts. Tuka says: when we raise a cry to You, You will come running, afraid to fail us.
What it means
Tukaram sets the devotee's path apart from the scholar's. The Vedas and learned texts do not recognize people like him; he belongs instead to the company of plain believers whose hold on God is His form, not doctrine. He then makes a bold claim: simple faith is strong enough to place God within the heart and keep Him there. The radical turn is the last line, where the relationship is reversed: God Himself feels bound to answer, hurrying to the devotee's call as though afraid of disappointing him.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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