Ecstasy, Hari the only kinsman
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्वरसीं मीनलें चित्त । अखंडित आनंदु ॥1॥
गोत पति विश्वंभरीं । जाला हरि सोयरा ॥ध्रु.॥
वोळखी ते एका नांवें । इतरभावें खंडणा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नांवें रूपें । दुसरीं पापें हारपलीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The chitta has merged with the essence of all things, and unbroken joy prevails. Hari has become the true kinsman, the friend and lord of all. Recognition comes through one Name alone; every other mode of perception is dissolved. Says Tuka, through that Name and that form, all remaining sins are burned away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My mind has merged into the essence of all things, and the joy never breaks. Hari, who fills all worlds, has become my kinsman, my lord, my friend. Recognition comes through one Name alone. Every other way of seeing is cut off. Tuka says: through that Name and that form, all my other sins have vanished.
What it means
Tukaram is reporting a state of unbroken bliss in which his mind has dissolved into the essence underlying everything. The God who pervades all worlds is no longer abstract to him; Hari has become family, the close kinsman and friend and lord. He says true recognition comes by the single Name, and once that holds, every other mode of perceiving falls away as unnecessary. The closing line names the fruit: the Name and the form it carries burn off whatever sins remained. The poem links absorption in God directly to the simple practice of the Name.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →