Farewell from the holy place, going home
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाराणसीपयपत असों सुखरूप । सांगावा निरोप संतांसी हा ॥1॥
येथूनियां आह्मां जाणें निजधामा । सवें असे आह्मां गरुड हा ॥2॥
कृपा असों द्यावी मज दीनावरी । जातोंसों माहेरी तुका ह्मणे ॥3॥ ॥24॥
शखे 1571 एकाहत्तरीं विरोधनामसंवत्सरीं फालगुनवद्य
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
From the holy site of Varanasi, may all be well. Carry this farewell message to the saints. From here I must proceed to my eternal home; Garuda accompanies me on the way. May your grace remain upon this humble one. Says Tuka, I am going to my true home.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
From the holy place, may all be well. Carry this farewell to the saints. From here I must go to my own home. Garuda is with me on the way. Let your grace stay upon me, a lowly one. Tuka says: I am going to my mother's house.
What it means
Another departure poem, sending a last blessing and a farewell to be passed on to the saints. Tukaram says he is leaving for his true home, his nijadhama, the abode that was always his, and that Garuda, Vishnu's own mount, accompanies him on the journey. He asks only that grace remain on him, who is poor and small. The final image is tender: he calls the place he is going his mother's house, the maher, where a daughter returns to be held without conditions, so death here is not exile but homecoming.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
More in this theme →