Ecstasy, kirtan outstrips the knowers
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुका तुकासी तुकला । तुका तुकाहुनि निराळा ॥1॥
घोंटवीन लाळ ब्रह्मज्ञान्या हातीं । मुक्तां आत्मिस्थती सांडवीन ॥1॥
ब्रह्मभूत होते काया च कीर्तनीं । भाग्य तरी ॠणी देवा ऐसा ॥ध्रु.॥
तीर्थ भ्रमकासी आणीन आळस । कडु स्वर्गवास करिन भोग ॥2॥
सांडवीन तपोनिधा अभिमान । यज्ञ आणि दान लाजवीन ॥3॥
भक्तिभाग्यप्रेमा साधीन पुरुषार्थ । ब्रह्मींचा जो अर्थ निजठेवा ॥4॥
धन्य ह्मणवीन येहे लोकीं लोकां । भाग्य आह्मीं तुका देखियेला ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Tuka has merged into Tuka, yet Tuka remains apart from Tuka. I will make the knowers of Brahman swallow their own drool in astonishment. I will make the liberated abandon their settled state. The body itself became Brahman through kirtan; if fortune allows, I will put even God in my debt. I will shame the wandering pilgrim into giving up his restlessness. I will make the pleasures of heaven taste bitter. I will strip the pride from those rich in austerity. I will humble the performer of sacrifice and charity. Through devotion, fortune, and love I will win the highest goal, the treasure hidden within Brahman itself. Says Tuka, the world will call them blessed who had the fortune of seeing this.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Tuka has merged into Tuka, yet Tuka is apart from Tuka. I will make the knowers of Brahman drool in the hand of wonder. I will make the liberated drop their settled state. The body itself became Brahman through kirtan; if fortune holds, I will put even God in my debt. I will bring the wandering pilgrim to lay down his restlessness. I will make the dwelling in heaven taste bitter. I will make those rich in penance let go of their pride. I will shame the doer of sacrifice and the giver of gifts. Through devotion, fortune, and love I will win the highest aim, the treasure hidden within Brahman itself. Tuka says: I will make the world call them blessed; it is our fortune that we have seen this.
What it means
Tukaram makes a bold set of boasts on behalf of kirtan, devotional singing, claiming it surpasses every other spiritual path. The knowers of Brahman, the liberated, the pilgrims, the dwellers in heaven, the masters of austerity, the performers of sacrifice and charity: each represents a recognized route to the goal, and he says love and song will outdo them all, even leaving the dry knowers astonished and the proud ascetics stripped of pride. The line about putting God in his debt is the same audacity turned upward; through kirtan the body itself becomes Brahman. The claim worth examining is not contempt for those other seekers but the wager itself, that simple devotion reaches the hidden treasure within Brahman that effort and pride keep missing. He ends by saying the fortune is in having seen this for himself.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →