Death as homecoming, the summons arrives
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपुल्या माहेरा जाईन मी आतां । निरोप या संतां हातीं आला ॥1॥
सुख दुःख माझें ऐकिलें कानीं । कळवळा मनीं करुणेचा ॥ध्रु.॥
करुनी सिद्ध मूळ साउलें भातुकें । येती दिसें एकें न्यावयासी ॥2॥
त्या चि पंथें माझें लागलेंसे चित्त । वाट पाहें नित्य माहेराची ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां येतील न्यावया । अंगें आपुलिया मायबाप ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I shall now go to my true home; the message has arrived through the hands of the saints. They heard my joys and sorrows, and compassion stirred in their minds. They have prepared provisions and gifts for the journey; in a matter of days they will come to take me. My chitta is fixed upon that very path; I wait daily for news from my true home. Says Tuka, now my mother and father themselves will come to carry me away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will go now to my true home. The message has come, brought by the hands of the saints. They heard of my joys and my sorrows; compassion stirred in their hearts. They have made everything ready, the provisions and the parting gifts. In a day or two they will come to take me. My mind is already set on that road. Every day I watch for word from home. Tuka says: now my own mother and father will come, in their own bodies, to carry me away.
What it means
Tukaram is speaking of his death as a journey to his true home with God, and he is calm, even glad. The saints have carried the summons to him, having heard his whole life of joy and sorrow, and out of compassion they prepare him for the road. He no longer waits for the things of this world; he waits daily for the message that calls him back. He names God as mother and father coming in person to carry him, so that dying is not a loss but a child being fetched home.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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