Ecstasy, every day a festival
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आजि आनंदु रे एकी परमानंदु रे । जया श्रुति नेति नेति ह्मणती गोविंदु रे ॥1॥
विठोबाचीं वेडीं आह्मां आनंदु सदा । गाऊं नाचों वाऊं टाळी रंजवूं गोविंदा ॥ध्रु.॥
सदा सन सांत आह्मां नित्य दिवाळी । आनंदें निर्भर आमचा कैवारी बळी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं जन्ममरणांचा धाक । संत सनकादिक तें आमचें कवतुक॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Today there is bliss, supreme bliss. The Vedas call Him 'not this, not this,' and yet He is Govinda. We who are mad for Vithoba live in constant joy; we sing, we dance, we clap, and we delight Govinda. Every day is a festival for us, every day a Diwali. Our mighty protector fills us with boundless joy. Says Tuka, we have no fear of birth and death. The saints like Sanaka are our kin and our delight.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Today there is bliss, the one supreme bliss. The Vedas say of him 'not this, not this,' and he is Govinda. We who are mad for Vithoba are always glad. We sing, we dance, we clap, we delight Govinda. Every day is good for us; every day is Diwali. Our strong protector fills us full with joy. Tuka says: we have no fear of birth and death. The saints like Sanaka are our kin and our play.
What it means
Tukaram sets the dry negations of the Vedas, 'not this, not this,' beside a name you can sing, and the singing wins. He says the One the scriptures can only point to by denial is simply Govinda, near enough to dance for. To be 'mad for Vithoba' is not loss but constant festival, every ordinary day a Diwali. The reward he names is concrete: because their protector is strong, the lovers lose the fear of birth and death. The saints of old become not distant authorities but kin in the same joy.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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