Ecstasy, the welcome at the end
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐक हें सुख होईल दोघांसी । सोहळा हे ॠषि करिती देव ॥1॥
जडितविमानें बैसविती मानें । गंधर्वांचें गाणें नामघोष ॥ध्रु.॥
संत महंत सिद्ध येतील सामोरे । सर्वसुखा पुरे कोड तेथें ॥2॥
आलिंगूनि लोळों त्यांच्या पायांवरी । जाऊं तेथवरी मायबापें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तया सुखा वणूप काय । जेव्हां बापमाय देखें डोळां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Listen: this bliss will come to both of us. The sages and gods will celebrate our joy. We will be seated with honor in jeweled celestial chariots, with the gandharvas singing and the divine name resounding. Saints, siddhas, and great ones will come to welcome us. We will roll at their feet in ecstasy and go to our Father and Mother together. Says Tuka, how can I describe that joy when our eyes behold our divine parents?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Listen: this bliss will come to us both. The sages and the gods will hold a festival of joy. They will seat us with honor in jeweled celestial chariots, the gandharvas singing, the Name resounding. Saints, great ones, and siddhas will come out to meet us. We will embrace them and roll at their feet, and so go all the way to our Mother and Father. Tuka says: how can I tell that joy, when my eyes behold our Mother and Father?
What it means
Tukaram paints the homecoming that crowns the path of devotion, sharing the vision with the soul he has been exhorting. The reward is not a private escape but a festival the gods and sages throw, with jeweled chariots, the gandharvas' song, and the Name ringing out. The saints and perfected ones come out to welcome them, and the devotee rolls at their feet in love. The journey ends at the Mother and Father, God as both parents, and Tukaram says the joy of seeing them with his own eyes is past all telling.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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