Ecstasy, death disarmed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जन्मा आलों त्याचें । आजि फळ जालें साचें ॥1॥
तुह्मी सांभािळलों संतीं । भय निवारली खंती ॥ध्रु.॥
कृत्याकृत्य जालों । इच्छा केली ते पावलों ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काळ । आतां करूं न शके बळ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Today the true fruit of having been born has been realized. O saints, you have sheltered me and removed all fear and sorrow. My purpose has been fulfilled; I have attained the very thing I desired. Says Tuka, now Death can no longer wield its power over me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Today the true fruit of being born has come. O saints, you have sheltered me, and my fear and grief are gone. I am made whole; I have reached the very thing I wanted. Tuka says: now Death can use no force on me.
What it means
Tukaram is naming a day of arrival. He says the whole point of taking birth has finally borne fruit, and he credits the saints, whose shelter has lifted his fear and sorrow away. He feels complete, his deepest wish fulfilled. The closing claim is the boldest part: with this attained, Death has lost all its power over him, because what he has reached cannot be touched by it.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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