Ecstasy, the warriors of the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी वीर जुंझार । करूं जमदाढे मार । तापटिले भार । मोड जाला दोषांचा ॥1॥
जाला हाहाकार । आले हांकीत जुंझार । शंखचक्रांचे शृंगार । कंठीं हार तुळसीचे ॥ध्रु.॥
रामनामांकित बाण । गोपी लाविला चंदन । झळकती निशाणें । गरुडटके पताका ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काळ । जालों जिंकोनि निश्चळ । पावला सकळ। भोग आह्मां आमचा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We are warriors, champions in the battle. We have crushed the forces of sin and shattered their pride. A great roar has gone up as the soldiers charge forward, adorned with conch and discus, wearing garlands of tulsi at their throats. Arrows inscribed with Rama's name are launched; gopichandan is applied to the forehead. The banners and Garuda-flags gleam and flutter. Says Tuka, we have conquered Time itself and stand firm. All the fruits of our devotion are now ours.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We are warriors, fighters in the field; we strike with crushing blows. The ranks were beaten down; the sins were broken and routed. A great cry went up as the fighters charged in, decked with conch and discus, garlands of tulsi at their throats. Arrows marked with Rama's name are loosed; sandal-paste of the gopis is set on the brow. The banners flash, the Garuda-flags fly. Tuka says: we have conquered Time and stand unshaken; the whole reward has come to us, our own.
What it means
Tukaram casts the devotee's life as a battle and the devotees as a victorious army, turning the imagery of war onto the inner enemy. The forces routed are the sins; the weapons are the tokens of bhakti, conch and discus, tulsi garlands, arrows inscribed with Rama's name, sandal on the brow, banners and Garuda-flags raised high. The point is that devotion is not passive softness but a real conquest, fought and won with the Name and the Lord's signs as arms. The final boast is the heart of the ecstasy: they have beaten Time itself, the death that overtakes everything, and now stand unshaken. The whole fruit of devotion is theirs and cannot be taken back.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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