Devotion, the Name over renunciation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय विरक्ति कळे आह्मां । जाणों एका नामा विठोबाच्या ॥1॥
नाचों सुखें वैष्णवमेळीं । टाळघोळीं आनंदें ॥ध्रु.॥
शांति क्षमा दया मी काय जाणें । गोविंद कीर्तनेंवांचूनियां ॥2॥
कासया उदास असों देहावरी । अमृतसागरीं बुडोनियां ॥3॥
कासया एकांत सेवूं तया वना । आनंद तो जनामाजी असे ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां ऐसा भरवसा । विठ्ठल सरसा चालतसे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What do I know of renunciation? I know only the one Name of Vithoba. Let us dance joyfully in the company of Vaishnavas, in the swirl of cymbals, in bliss. What do I know of peace, forgiveness, or compassion, apart from the kirtan of Govinda? Why should I be indifferent toward this body when I am immersed in an ocean of nectar? Why should I seek solitude in the forest when bliss itself resides among the people? Says Tuka, we have this firm confidence: Vitthal walks alongside us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What do I know of renunciation? I know only the one Name of Vithoba. Let us dance in joy in the company of Vaishnavas, in the clash of cymbals, in bliss. What do I know of peace, forgiveness, or mercy, apart from the kirtan of Govinda? Why be indifferent to this body when I am drowned in an ocean of nectar? Why seek solitude in the forest when bliss itself lives among the people? Tuka says: this is our firm trust. Vitthal walks right alongside us.
What it means
Tukaram sets the warm path of the Name above the cold disciplines of the renouncer. He claims no skill in renunciation, no separate practice of peace or forgiveness or mercy; he knows only the one Name and the kirtan of Govinda, danced out loud among the Vaishnavas. From there he answers the ascetic directly. Why mortify the body when devotion has already plunged him into an ocean of nectar, and why flee to the forest when bliss is found right in the midst of people. The ground of this confidence is the last line: Vitthal walks beside the devotee, so the company of God's people, not lonely austerity, is the road.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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