The road home, joy carried back
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसी ते सांडिली होईल पंढरी । येते वारकरी होत वाटे ॥1॥
देखिले सोहळे होती आठवत । चालती ते मात करूनियां ॥ध्रु.॥
केली आइकिली होईल जे कथा । राहिलें तें चित्ता होइल प्रेम ॥2॥
गरुडटके टाळ मृदांग पताका । सांगती ते एकां एक सुख ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां येती लवलाहीं । आलिंगूनि बाहीं देइन क्षेम ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having left Pandhari behind, the Varkaris travel homeward along the road. The celebrations they witnessed come back to memory as they walk and talk of them. The stories told and heard, and the love that lingered in the chitta. The Garuda-pillars, cymbals, drums, and banners; they share these joys with one another. Says Tuka, now they come swiftly; I will embrace them and give them greeting.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
So they leave Pandhari behind, and the Varkaris come homeward along the road. The celebrations they saw keep coming back to them as they walk and talk of them. The stories told and heard, the love that stayed in the chitta. The Garuda-pillars, the cymbals, the drums, the banners: they tell each other these joys, one to another. Tuka says: now they are coming quickly. I will take them in my arms and give them my greeting.
What it means
This is the return journey, and Tukaram turns from the grief of leaving to the joy that travels back with the pilgrims. They carry Pandhari home in memory: the celebrations, the stories, the music, the love that lodged in the chitta and would not leave. He stands at the far end of the road, waiting, and his own longing leans toward them as they hurry near. The Varkaris become carriers of news from the place where God lives, and meeting them is itself a way of touching that place again.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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