Wonder, the saint ascends
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुका उतरला तुकीं । नवल जालें तिहीं लोकीं ॥1॥
नित्य करितों कीर्तन । हें चि माझें अनुष्ठान ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका बैसला विमानीं । संत पाहाती लोचनीं ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Tuka dissolved into the essence of Tuka, and wonder spread through all three worlds. My daily practice is kirtan; that alone is my spiritual discipline. Tuka was seated in the celestial chariot, and the saints beheld it with their own eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Tuka passed beyond into Tuka. A wonder spread through all three worlds. Every day I do kirtan. That alone is my discipline. Tuka was seated in the celestial chariot, and the saints saw it with their own eyes.
What it means
The poem speaks of Tukaram's passing as a marvel witnessed across the three worlds. To pass beyond into himself is to be wholly absorbed, the man dissolved into what he truly is. He names the one practice that brought him here: daily kirtan, the singing of the Name, and nothing more elaborate. The closing image is the heart of it: the saints did not hear of his end secondhand but saw him seated in the celestial chariot with their own eyes, the singer carried up by the song he never stopped singing.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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