Poems by Sant Tukaram

All Poems Original Poems Translations

Thou art more kind than mother dear

Thou art more kind than mother dear,

More soothing than the rays of moon

Thy love an ever flowing tide,

Sinks deeper than a common stream

I know of none that equals Thee -

Thou best of all immortal Gods

I wave my name above Thy head,

And part it at thy holy feet.

Sant Tukaram

All Blest Are They

All blest are they whose heart with pity grows.

Who left Vaikuntha.their home,to serve mankind;

Who slight their person's needs ( it is not myth)

Whose hearts are broad ; Whose lips with honey flow .

Sant Tukaram

Sakal hee majhi

None see me off. Let those go home who will

Receive this blessing from a loosing heart

Let righteous deed secure you all good weal

Ye brought me up and gave me to one

who will not give you cause for anxious thoughts

I must now walk with my dear Lord of Life

Whom have I followed with inborn love.

If your love for me I give free scope

Sant Tukaram

The Price?

If you treat the opposite sex with reverence

will you pay a price?

If you stop your fault-finding and covetous ways

will your earnings not suffice?

If you sit in prayer and meditation

will it cost a living wage?

If you trust the words of realized souls

will your boss forget your pay?

Sant Tukaram

Smaller than the smallest atom

Smaller than the smallest atom,

All embracing as the heavens,

Tuka views the world objective -

Name and form as all delusion -

Realising its true nature

Serpent like, he drops his cover,

Far is left the triple range,

Which the soul has just passed o'er

Sant Tukaram

All men to me are god-like Gods!

My eyes no longer see

vice or fault.

Life on this suffering earth

is now endless delight;

the heart at rest, full,

overflowing.

In the mirror, the face and its reflection --

Sant Tukaram

Abhangs (A Short Collection)

I was sleeping when Namdeo and Vitthal Stepped into my dream.

"Your job is to make poems. Stop wasting time," Namdeo said.

Vitthal gave me the measure and gently aroused me from a dream inside a dream.

Namdeo vowed to write one billion poems.

"Tuka, all the unwritten ones are your responsibility."

To repeat Your name is to string pearls together.

The pleasure in your manifested form is always new.

I have ceased to desire the unembodied God.

Sant Tukaram