Ecstasy, the last rites of the self
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पिंडदान पिंडें ठेविलें करून । तिळीं तिळवण मूळत्रयीं॥1॥
सारिले संकल्प एका चि वचनें । ब्रह्मीं ब्रह्मार्पण सेवटींच्या ॥ध्रु.॥
सव्य अपसव्य बुडालें हें कर्म । एका एक वर्म एकोविष्णु ॥2॥
पित्यापुत्रत्वाचें जालें अवसान । जनीं जनादनन अभेदेंसी ॥3॥
आहे तैसी पूजा पावली सकळ । सहज तो काळ साधियेला ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे केला अवघियांचा उद्धार । आतां नमस्कार सेवटींचा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The ritual offering of the body-ball has been made; sesame and water have been offered at the three root centers. All resolves have been settled by a single utterance: 'All is offered to Brahman' at the very end. The rites of the right hand and the left hand have been submerged; the one secret is: all is Vishnu. The relationship of father and son has reached its conclusion; in all beings, Janardana is realized without distinction. Whatever worship existed has been accepted in full; the opportune moment has been naturally seized. Says Tuka, the deliverance of all has been accomplished. Now this is my final bow.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have made the offering of the body-ball. I have offered sesame and water at the three root centers. With one word I settle every resolve: at the very end, all is given to Brahman. The rites of the right hand and the left hand are sunk and gone. There is one secret: all is Vishnu. The bond of father and son has reached its close. In every being I see Janardana, with no difference. Whatever worship there was, it is all accepted now. The right moment has come of itself, and I have seized it. Tuka says: the deliverance of all is done. Now this is my last bow.
What it means
Tukaram performs his own funeral while still alive, naming each rite of death and then dissolving it into one act. He offers the body-ball, the sesame and water, the right-hand and left-hand rites, but instead of completing them as ceremony he settles them all in a single word: everything is given back to Brahman. With that, the very ground of the rituals collapses, because the difference they depend on is gone: father and son are no longer two, and in every being he sees only Janardana. The secret he has found is that all is Vishnu, so there is no one left outside to be saved separately. That is why he can say the deliverance of all is finished and offer his final bow.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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