Ecstasy, joy in the company of the devout
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैष्णवां संगती सुख वाटे जीवा । आणीक मी देवा कांहीं नेणें ॥1॥
गायें नाचें उडें आपुलिया छंदें । मनाच्या आनंदें आवडीनें ॥ध्रु.॥
लाज भय शंका दुराविला मान । न कळे साधन यापरतें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां आपुल्या सायासें । आह्मां जगदेशें सांभाळावें ॥3॥
देह सांभाळून। पायांवरी लोटांगण ॥2॥
विनवी संता तुका दीन । नव्हे गोरवें उत्तीर्ण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In the company of Vaishnavas my jiva feels joy; I know nothing else, O God. I sing, I dance, I leap about in my own delight, moved by the happiness within. Shame, fear, doubt, and pride have all been cast aside; I know no practice higher than this. Says Tuka, now by Your own effort, O Lord of the world, take care of us. Guarding this body, I fall prostrate at Your feet. Says Tuka, humbly entreating the saints, I cannot repay their honor.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the company of the Vaishnavas my soul feels joy; I know nothing else, O God. I sing, I dance, I leap to my own tune, in the gladness and love of my heart. Shame, fear, doubt, and the wish for respect, I have pushed them all away; I know no practice higher than this. Tuka says: now by your own effort, Lord of the world, take care of us. Guarding this body, I fall full length at your feet. Tuka the lowly entreats the saints: I cannot repay their honor.
What it means
Tukaram is naming the one thing that gives him joy and what it has cost and won. Among the devotees of God he sings and dances and leaps freely, carried by the gladness inside him, and he says plainly he knows nothing else and wants nothing else. To get there he had to throw off four heavy things: shame, fear, doubt, and the craving to be honored; once those are gone, this open delight is itself the highest practice, with no technique above it. Having let go of his own efforts, he asks God to be the one who now takes care of him, and bows flat at the feet of the Lord and the saints, admitting their kindness is more than he can ever repay.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →