Kirtan, debts of many births cancelled
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करिती तया वेवसाव आहे । येथें व्हा रे साहे एकां एक ॥1॥
गातां आइकतां समान चि घडे । लाभें लाभ जोडे विशेषता ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रेमाचें भरतें भातें घ्यावें अंगीं । नटे टाळी रंगीं शूरत्वेंसी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बहुजन्मांचे खंडण । होइल हा सीण निवारोनि ॥3॥ ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who labor at this enterprise find support here. Let each one help the other. Singing and listening both yield the same reward; gain upon gain accumulates abundantly. Wrap yourself in the garment of love and dance with clapping hands and the courage of a warrior. Says Tuka, the debts of many births will be cancelled, and all suffering will be removed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who work at this enterprise find support here. So help one another, each of you. Singing and listening both earn the same reward; gain piles on gain. Wrap the flood of love around your body, and dance with clapping hands and a warrior's courage. Tuka says: the debt of many lives will be cancelled, and all this weariness lifted.
What it means
Tukaram calls the listener into the shared work of kirtan and names what it does. Those who labor at it are upheld, so he tells them to support each other. The reward is the same whether you sing or only listen, and it keeps accumulating. He urges the devotee to put on love like a garment and to dance with clapping hands, bold as a fighter. The payoff is the stake: the karmic debt of many births is wiped out and all suffering removed. Praise sung together, by singer and hearer alike, settles a debt no single act could.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →