Ecstasy, the fullness has come
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तेव्हां धालें पोट बैसलों पंगती । आतां आह्मां मुक्तिपांग काई ॥1॥
धांवा केला आतां होईल धांवणे । तया कायी करणें लागे सध्या ॥ध्रु.॥
गायनाचा आतां कोठें उरला काळ। आनंदें सकळ भरी आलें ॥2॥
देवाच्या सख्यत्वें विषमासी ठाव । मध्यें कोठें वाव राहों सके ॥3॥
तेव्हां जाली अवघी बाधा वाताहात। प्रेम हृदयांत प्रवेशलें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मीं जिंतिलें भरवसा । देव कोठें दासा मोकलितो ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Our belly was filled the moment we sat in that assembly. What need have we now for the craving of liberation? The call has been made; the rescue will come. What else is there to do right now? Where is there any time left for singing? The fullness of joy has arrived. When God's friendship is present, where is there room for anything adverse? All obstacles were brought to ruin the moment love entered this heart. Says Tuka, we have won this trust. God does not abandon His servant anywhere.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My belly was filled the moment I sat down in that company. Now what use have I for the craving after liberation? The cry was raised, and now the rescue is coming; what else is there left to do right now? Where is there any time left for singing? The whole of me has been flooded with joy. When God's friendship is here, where is there room for anything against me? The moment love entered this heart, every obstacle was blown to pieces. Tuka says: we have won, for certain. Where does God ever abandon his servant?
What it means
Tukaram is describing the moment after the longing is answered, when the hunger itself is gone. Sitting in the company of God and his people has filled him so completely that he no longer even wants liberation, the goal that usually drives the seeker. He says the rescue is already on its way, joy has flooded everything, and there is no more room left for fear or for anything that opposes him. The arrival of love did not negotiate with the obstacles; it destroyed them. The closing line names the stake plainly: this is certainty, not hope, because a God who lets love in does not abandon his own.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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