Ecstasy, the house emptied of desire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
1331. बोलावा विठ्ठल पाहावा विठ्ठल । करावा विठ्ठल जीवभाव ॥1॥
येणें सोसें मन जालें हांवभरी । परती माघारी घेत नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बंधनापासूनि उकलली गांठी । देतां आली मिठी सावकाशें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देह भारिला विठ्ठलें । कामक्रोधें केलें घर रितें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Speak of Vitthala, behold Vitthala, make Vitthala your jiva-bhava. With this fervent longing the mind has overflowed, and it will not turn back again. The knot of bondage has come undone, and a lasting embrace has been granted at leisure. Says Tuka, Vitthala has filled this body, and desire and anger have been evicted from the house.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Speak Vitthala. See Vitthala. Make Vitthala your very life and feeling. With this longing the mind has overflowed, and it will not turn back again. The knot of bondage has come loose, and a long, unhurried embrace has been given. Tuka says: Vitthala has filled this body, and desire and anger have been thrown out of the house.
What it means
Tukaram lays out a single practice in three strokes: speak Vitthal, look at Vitthal, make Vitthal the very feeling of your life. He describes what that does: the mind brims over with longing and loses all wish to turn back. As the practice deepens, the knot that tied him to bondage simply slips open and he is held in an unhurried embrace. He ends with the result inside the body itself, Vitthal has moved in so fully that desire and anger have been evicted from the house like unwanted tenants.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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