Bridal mysticism, the barren union
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्व सुख आम्ही भोगूं सर्व काळ । तोडियेलें जाळ मोहपाश ॥१॥
याचसाठी सांडियेले भरतार । रातलों या परपुरुषाशीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आतां गर्भ नये धरूं । औषध जें करूं फळ नव्हे ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We savor every joy for all time. The snare of delusion is cut away. For this alone we abandoned our husband. We are dyed through with the Other Man. Tuka says: now no conception need be carried. The medicine we have compounded bears no fruit.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We taste every joy, and for all time. The net of delusion is cut. This is why we left the husband and gave ourselves wholly to the Other Man. Tuka says: now no child need ever be conceived. The medicine we have taken bears no further fruit.
What it means
Tukaram returns to the daring image of the soul who leaves her lawful husband, the old worldly life, for the Other Man who is God. The closing couplet is a startling figure: this union produces no child, bears no fruit. He means it as freedom. The fruit of ordinary action is more birth, more becoming; this love is barren in the best sense, it sets no new round of consequences turning. The net of delusion is cut, and nothing further is conceived.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →