Union, no separation when the beloved is near
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वियोग न घडे सन्निध वसलें । अखंड राहिलें होय चित्तीं ॥1॥
विसरु न पडे विकल्प न घडे । आलें तें आवडे तया पंथें ॥ध्रु.॥
कामाचा विसर नाठवे शरीर । रसना मधुर नेणे फिकें॥2॥
निरोपासी काज असो अनामिक । निवडितां एक नये मज ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हित चित्तें ओढियेलें । जेथें तें उगलें जावें येणें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the beloved dwells ever near, there is no real separation; what remains in the chitta is unbroken presence. There is no forgetting, no doubt; whatever comes along that path is welcomed. In that state, one forgets worldly duties and the body itself; the tongue knows no difference between sweet and bland. Whether a message comes or not is of no great matter; I cannot distinguish one thing from another. Says Tuka, the chitta has been drawn to its true good; where that resolution leads, going and coming cease.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When the beloved lives ever near, there is no real separation; what stays in the chitta is unbroken presence. There is no forgetting, no doubt; whatever comes along that path is dear. In that state I forget my work and even my body; the tongue cannot tell sweet from bland. Whether a message comes or not no longer matters; I cannot pick out one thing from another. Tuka says: the chitta has been drawn to its true good; where that leads, going and coming come to an end.
What it means
This abhanga is the resting point the whole sequence was reaching for. When God is felt as ever near, the longing for messages and meetings dissolves, because there is no longer any distance to bridge; the presence is unbroken in the chitta. Doubt and forgetting fall away, and so does the world: work, body, even the tongue's taste lose their hold. Whether or not word arrives stops mattering, since the soul no longer separates one thing from another. Tuka says the chitta has been pulled into its true good, and there the very motion of going and coming, of seeking and waiting, ceases.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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