Devotion, the Name on every faculty
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विठ्ठल गीतीं गावा विठ्ठल चित्तीं ध्यावा । विठ्ठल उभा पाहावा विटेवरी ॥1॥
अनाथाचा बंधु विठ्ठल कृपासिंधु । तोडी भवबंधु यमपाश ॥ध्रु.॥
तो चि शरणागतां हा विठ्ठल मुक्तिदाता । विठ्ठल या संतांसमागमें ॥2॥
विठ्ठल गुणनिधि विठ्ठल सर्व सििद्ध। लागली समाधि विठ्ठलनामें ॥3॥
विठ्ठलाचें नाम घेतां जालें सुख। गोडावलें मुख तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sing Vitthal in your songs, meditate on Vitthal in your chitta, behold Vitthal standing upon the brick. Vitthal is the friend of the helpless, the ocean of mercy. He severs the bonds of samsara and the noose of Yama. He alone is the giver of liberation to those who surrender. Vitthal is found in the company of saints. Vitthal is the treasure of virtues, the source of all attainments. Through Vitthal's name, samadhi is attained. Says Tuka, by taking Vitthal's name, my mouth has grown sweet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sing Vitthal in your songs, hold Vitthal in your mind, look on Vitthal standing upon the brick. Vitthal is the brother of the helpless, the ocean of mercy; He cuts the bonds of worldly life and the noose of Yama. He alone gives liberation to those who surrender; Vitthal is found in the company of the saints. Vitthal is the treasure of all virtues, the source of every attainment; through Vitthal's name, deep stillness comes. Tuka says: when I take Vitthal's name, joy comes, and my mouth has turned sweet.
What it means
Tukaram sets one name to every act of the body and mind: sing it, meditate on it, gaze on Vitthal upon the brick. He stacks up what that name does, naming the stakes each time: Vitthal is brother to the helpless, an ocean of mercy who cuts the bonds of worldly life and even the noose of death, and gives liberation to anyone who surrenders. He locates where the living God is found, in the company of the saints, and what the Name brings, the deep stillness of samadhi. The closing line is plain and bodily: the very taste of saying the Name has turned his mouth sweet.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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