Farewell, the soul departs with the Lord
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सकळ ही माझी बोळवण करा । परतोनि घरा जावें तुह्मीं ॥1॥
कर्मधर्में तुह्मां असावें कल्याण । घ्या माझें वचन आशीर्वाद ॥ध्रु.॥
वाढवूनि दिलों एकाचिये हातीं । सकळ नििंश्चती जाली तेथें ॥2॥
आतां मज जाणें प्राणेश्वरासवें । माझिया भावें अनुसरलों ॥3॥
वाढवितां लोभ होईल उसीर । अवघींच िस्थर करा ठायीं ॥4॥
धर्म अर्थ काम जाला एके ठायीं । मेळविला जिंहीं हाता हात ॥5॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां जाली हे चि भेटी । उरल्या त्या गोष्टी बोलावया ॥6॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All of you, bid me farewell now; return to your homes. May virtue and right conduct bring you well-being; accept my words as a blessing. I have been entrusted into the hands of one; all matters are settled there. Now I must go with my beloved Lord; I have followed my own bhava. If we linger in attachment, there will be delay; let everyone be steady in their place. Dharma, wealth, and desire have come together in one place, joined by those who brought hand to hand. Says Tuka, this meeting has taken place; what remains is only words left to speak.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All of you, see me off now; turn back and go to your homes. May your duty and your right living bring you well-being; take my words as a blessing. I was raised and then handed into the keeping of One; there everything is settled. Now I must go with the Lord of my life; I have followed where my own heart led. If we linger in attachment, there will be delay; let everyone be steady in their place. Dharma, wealth, and desire have all come together in one place, joined by those who brought hand to hand. Tuka says: now this meeting has happened; what is left is only the words still to be spoken.
What it means
This is Tukaram's leave-taking, spoken to those he leaves behind as he departs with God. He sends them home with a blessing, telling them to keep to their duty and right living, and not to hold him with grief, since attachment only delays what must happen. He explains that his life was always meant to be handed over to the One, and that following his own bhava, his heart's devotion, has brought him to this settled end. Naming dharma, wealth, and desire gathered into one place, he says the soul's whole journey has come to rest in God; the meeting is done, and only the last few words remain.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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