Ecstasy, the burden laid down
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उद्वेगाची धांव बैसली आसनीं । पडिलें नारायणीं मोटळें हें ॥1॥
सकळ नििंश्चती जाली हा भरवसा । नाहीं गर्भवासा येणें ऐसा ॥ध्रु.॥
आपुलिया नांवें नाहीं आह्मां जिणें । अभिमान तेणें नेला देवें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे चेळें एकाचिया सत्ता । आपुलें मिरवितां पणें ऐसें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The rush of anxiety has settled into stillness, and this bundle of cares has been laid down before Narayana. All uncertainty is resolved; I have this assurance that I shall not return to the womb. I no longer live by my own name; God has taken away my pride. Says Tuka, I am moved by the will of one Master alone; such is what it means to abide in His sovereignty.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The running of my anxiety has sat down at last. This whole bundle of cares I have dropped before Narayana. Every uncertainty is settled; I have this assurance: I will not come back through the womb. I no longer live under my own name; God has carried off my pride. Tuka says: I move only by the will of one Master. This is what it is to live in His rule.
What it means
Tukaram describes the peace that follows complete surrender. The restless motion of worry has finally come to rest, and he has set his whole load of cares down before Narayana rather than carrying it himself. From this comes certainty, including the assurance that he will not be born again. The change goes deep: he no longer lives in his own name, because God has taken away the pride that was the self he used to defend. What is left is a life moved only by God's will, which he names as living inside God's sovereignty.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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