Union, the river meets the sea
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अखंड न खंडे अभंग न भंगे । तुका ह्मणे गंगे मिळणी सिंधु ॥3॥ ॥1॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Says Tuka, this is unbroken and cannot be severed, like the Ganga meeting the ocean.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Tuka says: this is unbroken and cannot be cut, like the Ganga meeting the ocean.
What it means
This is a single closing image of union that cannot come apart. Tukaram likens the devotee's joining with God to the Ganga flowing into the sea: once the river reaches the ocean there is no separating them again. The words unbroken and unsevered insist this is permanent, not a passing mood. Where a river loses its name and form in the sea yet loses nothing of itself, so the surrendered jiva is wholly merged and wholly safe.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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