Ecstasy, the test of grace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
स्मशानीं आह्मां न्याहालीचें सुख । या नांवें कौतुक तुमची कृपा ॥1॥
नाहीं तरीं वांयां अवघें निर्फळ । शब्द ते पोकळ बडबड ॥ध्रु.॥
झाडें झुडें जीव सोइरे पाषाण । होती तई दान तुह्मीं केलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां पाहे अनुभव । घेऊनि हातीं जीव पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
For us, the bliss of the cremation ground is like the joy of adorning ourselves; this is what Your grace amounts to. Without it, everything is barren and hollow, just empty words and chatter. Trees, bushes, creatures, stones, all become dear companions when You bestow Your gift upon them. Says Tuka, now test this through experience, O Panduranga, taking my life in Your hands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For us the cremation ground feels like the joy of lying on a soft bed. By that you can tell the wonder of your grace. Without it everything is barren and empty, just hollow chatter. Trees, bushes, creatures, stones all become dear kin when you give your gift. Tuka says: now put it to the test of experience. Take my life in your hands, Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram describes what grace actually feels like and dares God to prove it. The mark of grace is that even the cremation ground, the most fearful and desolate place, feels to him like resting on a soft bed; that turnaround is the wonder. Without grace, he says, all the rest is barren and just empty talk, while with it even trees, bushes, animals, and stones become beloved relatives, because the gift remakes how everything is seen. He ends with a bold, direct demand: do not let this stay theory, test it in lived experience, and take my very life into your hands, Panduranga.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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