Ecstatic kirtan, no need of heaven
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एका हातीं टाळ एका हातीं चिपिळया । घालिती हुंमरी एक वाताती टािळया ॥1॥
मातले वैष्णव नटती नाना छंदें। नाहीं चाड मोक्षपदें भजनीं आवडी ॥ध्रु.॥
हाका अरोिळया गीतवादें सुखसोहळे । जाय तें न कळे केव्हां रजनी दिवस ॥2॥
तीथाअ नाहीं चाड न लगे जावें वनांतरा । तुका ह्मणे हरिहरात्मक चि पृथुवी॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Cymbals in one hand, clappers in the other; some raise a roar while others clap along. The intoxicated Vaishnavas adorn themselves in countless modes of delight; they care nothing for liberation, for their love is in devotion alone. Shouts, songs, musical celebrations, and festivals of joy fill the air; day and night pass without anyone noticing. They have no longing for pilgrimage or retreat to forests. Says Tuka, this entire earth is pervaded by Hari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Cymbals in one hand, clappers in the other; one raises a roar while another claps along. The Vaishnavas are drunk with joy and dance in a hundred ways. They have no use for liberation; their whole love is in singing his name. Shouts, cries, song and music, festivals of joy: in it, no one notices when night comes or day. They have no longing for pilgrimage, no need to go off into the forest. Tuka says: the whole earth is filled through and through with Hari.
What it means
Tukaram paints the abandon of communal kirtan, devotees lost in singing with cymbals and clappers, dancing, shouting, losing all track of night and day. The sharp claim is in the refrain: these singers care nothing for liberation itself; the joy of the Name is already enough, so the prize the whole tradition chases is set aside as beside the point. They feel no pull toward pilgrimage sites or forest retreats, because they need not go anywhere to find God. Tukaram gives the reason in the last line: the entire earth is already saturated with Hari, so the Name sung here is the destination.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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