Devotion, the far treasure come home
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तें च किती वारंवार । बोलों फार बोलिलें ॥1॥
आतां माझें दंडवत । तुमच्या संत चरणांसी ॥ध्रु.॥
आवडी ते नीच नवी । जाली जीवीं वसती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बरवें जालें । घरा आलें बंदरीचें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How many times should the same thing be repeated? Much has already been said. Now I offer my prostration to Your feet, O saints. The love that ever feels fresh and new has made its dwelling in my chitta. Says Tuka, it is well; the treasure from far away has come home.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How many times should the same thing be said? Much has been said already. Now here is my prostration to your feet, O saints. The love that always feels new and fresh has made its home in my heart. Tuka says: it is well; the treasure from far away has come home.
What it means
Tukaram stops his own talking and falls instead into a gesture. He admits the same things have been said many times over, so he sets words aside and simply bows full length at the feet of the saints. The shift is the point: past explanation lies a love that never grows stale, that keeps feeling new, and it has now taken up residence in his heart. He closes with quiet relief, comparing it to a long-awaited treasure that has finally reached home, the soul's homecoming after a far journey.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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