Ecstasy, the names reversed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुज मज नाहीं भेद । केला सहज विनोद ॥1॥
तूं माझा आकार । मी तों तूं च निर्धार ॥ध्रु.॥
मी तुजमाजी देवा । घेसी माझ्या अंगें सेवा ॥2॥
मी तुजमाजी अचळ । मजमाजी तुझें बळ॥3॥
तूं बोलसी माझ्या मुखें । मी तों तुजमाजी सुखें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । विपरीत ठायीं नांवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Between You and me there is no real difference; this is a spontaneous play. You are my form and I am truly You. I dwell within You, O God, and You take service through my body. I am immovable within You, and Your strength resides within me. You speak through my mouth, and I rest happily within You. Says Tuka, O God, in this paradox the names are reversed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Between you and me there is no difference; this is a play that happened on its own. You are my form, and I am you, for certain. I live inside you, God, and through my body you take service. I am unmoving inside you, and inside me is your strength. You speak through my mouth, and I rest happily inside you. Tuka says: God, in this turning the names are reversed.
What it means
Tukaram is naming the moment when the line between worshipper and worshipped has dissolved. He does not say he has become great; he says the two have folded into each other so completely that you cannot tell which is doing what. His body is where God acts, his mouth is where God speaks, his stillness rests in God and God's power rests in him. The closing line is the key: at this depth the labels of "you" and "me" swap and stop meaning anything separate. This is union spoken from inside the union, not described from outside it.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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