Stillness, the longing fulfilled
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं त्रिभुवनीं सुख या समान । ह्मणऊनि मन िस्थरावलें ॥1॥
धरियेलीं जीवीं पाउलें कोमळीं । केली एकावळी नाममाळा ॥ध्रु.॥
शीतळ होऊनियां पावलों विश्रांती । न साहे पुढती घाली चित्ता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाले सकळ सोहळे । पुरविले डोहळे पांडुरंगें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is no happiness in all three worlds equal to this, and so my mind has become still. I have clasped those tender feet within my chitta and strung a garland of the holy name. Having grown cool and peaceful, I have found true rest, and the mind no longer throws itself into agitation. Says Tuka, all celebrations have come to completion, for Panduranga has fulfilled every longing.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In all three worlds there is no happiness like this. So my mind has grown still. I have held those tender feet within me. I have strung the holy name into a garland. I have grown cool. I have come to rest. The mind no longer throws itself into trouble. Tuka says: every celebration is complete. Panduranga has filled every longing.
What it means
Tukaram names what the still mind has found: a happiness no plane of being can match, so it stops searching. The image is concrete. He clasps Panduranga's feet inside himself and strings the divine name as a garland repeated again and again. The result is coolness and rest, an end to the mind hurling itself back into agitation. He closes by saying the festival is over not because it failed but because it is fulfilled; God has answered every craving, so there is nothing left to want.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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