Devotion, who else will serve You
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नवां नवसांचीं । जालों तुह्मासी वाणीचीं ॥1॥
कोण तुझें नाम घेतें । देवा पिंडदान देतें ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण होतें मागें पुढें । दुजें बोलाया रोकडें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पांडुरंगा । कोणा घेतासि वो संगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have made vow after vow to You with my voice. Who else chants Your Name? Who else offers remembrance of the departed? Who stood before or after, willing to speak plainly? Says Tuka, O Panduranga, with whom do You keep company?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Vow upon vow, I have made myself Yours with my voice. Who else takes up Your Name? Who else makes the offering for You? Who else stood behind You or before You, ready to speak straight for You? Tuka says: O Panduranga, whose company will You keep then?
What it means
Tukaram presses a bold, almost teasing claim on the Lord: he is the one who actually keeps the vows, chants the Name, and stands up for God in plain speech. The questions are real challenges. If not him, who is doing this work? He reverses the usual posture of the suppliant: it is God who should value the devotee, because devotees like this are rare. The closing line lands the dare gently: O Panduranga, if You let me go, whose company will be left to You?
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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