Ecstasy, the ordinary turned divine
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्वपक्षीं हरि साहेसखा जाला । ओल्या अंगणीच्या कल्पलता त्याला ॥1॥
सहजचाली चालतां पायवाटे । चिंतामणींसमान होती गोटे ॥2॥
तुका तरी सहज बोले वाणी । त्याचे घरीं वेदांत वाहे पाणी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When Hari has become one's companion in every way, the wish-fulfilling trees spring up in one's own courtyard. Walking along the ordinary path with a natural gait, the pebbles underfoot become wish-fulfilling gems. Says Tuka, when one speaks simply from the chitta, the Vedanta itself comes to carry water in one's home.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When Hari has become your friend and helper in every way, wish-granting trees spring up in your own courtyard. Walk the ordinary footpath with an easy gait, and the pebbles underfoot turn into wish-granting gems. Tuka says: when one speaks simply from the heart, the Vedanta itself comes to carry water in that one's home.
What it means
Tukaram describes what happens when God is wholly a companion, not a distant deity. The world does not change its furniture; it changes its worth. The common courtyard grows the tree that grants every wish, and the gravel of an everyday path becomes the gem that does the same. The point is that the divine quietly transfigures the ordinary for one who walks with God. The last image is the most daring: the lofty Vedanta, the crown of scripture, becomes a household servant fetching water, because plain speech from a heart full of God outranks all learning.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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