Ecstasy, the one profit secured
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्वविशीं आह्मीं हे चि जोडी केली । स्वीमीची साधिली चरणसेवा ॥1॥
पाहिलें चि नाहीं मागें परतोनी । जिंकिला तो क्षणीं क्षण काळ ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं पडों दिला विचाराचा गोवा । नाहीं पाठी हेवा येऊं दिला ॥2॥
केला लाग वेगीं अवघी चि तांतडी । भावना ते कुडी दुराविली ॥3॥
कोठें मग ऐसें होतें सावकास । जळो तया आस वेव्हाराची ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे लाभ घेतला पालवीं। आतां नाहीं गोवी कशाची ही ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In all our endeavors, this alone is what we have achieved: we have secured service at the Lord's feet. We never once looked back. Every moment and every instant was conquered in the act. We allowed no entanglement of deliberation to delay us. We did not let envy come from behind. We pressed forward with all urgency and speed, banishing every false impulse. Where then was there time for leisure? Let the craving for worldly dealings burn. Says Tuka, the profit has been tucked safely in our garment. Now there is no entanglement of any kind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In all our striving, this alone is what we gained: we secured service at the Lord's feet. We never once looked back. Every moment, every instant, was won in the doing. We let no tangle of deliberation slow us down. We let no envy come at us from behind. We pressed forward with all haste and speed, and drove off every false impulse. Where then was there room for leisure? Let the craving for worldly dealings burn. Tuka says: the profit is tucked safe in the fold of our garment. Now there is no entanglement of any kind.
What it means
Tukaram describes the seeking life as a single decisive transaction that has now paid off. The one gain worth having was service at God's feet, and it was won by refusing to look back, by moving fast, and by letting no second thought, no envy, no false feeling get in the way. He treats hesitation and worldly business as enemies and wishes the craving for them burned away. The closing image makes the win concrete: the profit is tucked safely into the fold of his garment, and the soul is now free of every entanglement. The stakes are wholehearted urgency: half-measures and deliberation lose what single-minded surrender secures.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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