Death as homecoming, reading the signs
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चिन्हें उमटताती अंगीं । शकुना जोगीं उत्तम ॥1॥
आठवला बापमाय । येइल काय मूळ नेणों ॥ध्रु.॥
उत्कंठित जालें मन । ते चि खुण तेथींचि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काम वारीं । आळस घरीं करमेना ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Auspicious signs are appearing on my body, omens of the highest kind. I am remembering my mother and father; I wonder if a message has come to fetch me. The mind has become full of longing; that itself is the sign that it points toward that place. Says Tuka, all work is done; I can no longer pass the time idly at home.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Signs are showing on my body, omens of the best kind. I keep remembering my mother and father. Has the message come to fetch me? I do not know. My mind has filled with longing, and that longing itself is the sign of where I belong. Tuka says: all my work is finished. I cannot sit idle at home any longer.
What it means
Tukaram reads the nearness of death as a body marked with good omens, and he answers it with longing rather than fear. He keeps remembering God as mother and father, watching for the call to come home. He treats his own ache to leave as the surest sign that he belongs on the other side, with the Lord. His earthly work is done, and he can no longer pass the time in this house; the readiness is the whole point.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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