Ecstasy, the long-awaited meeting, rest at last
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बहुतां दिसांची आजि जाली भेटी । जाली होती तुटी काळगती ॥1॥
येथें सावकासें घेईन ते धणी । गेली अडचणी उगवोनि ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु दुःख दिलें होतें घरीं कामें । वाढला हा श्रमश्रमें होता ॥2॥
बहु दिस होता पाहिला मारग । क्लेशाचा त्या त्याग आजि जाला ॥3॥
बहु होती केली सोंगसंपादणी । लौकिकापासूनि निर्गमलें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे येथें जालें अवसान । परमानंदीं मन विसावलें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
After so many days, the meeting has taken place at last. The separation caused by the march of time has ended. Here I shall take my fill at leisure, for all difficulties have been resolved. The household duties had given me great sorrow, and exhaustion had only grown with each labor. For so long I had watched for this path, and today the burden of suffering is cast off. So much pretense and worldly management had to be endured; at last I have emerged from the grip of appearances. Says Tuka, here the journey reaches its end, and the mind rests in supreme bliss.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
After many days the meeting has come at last. The break caused by the march of time is over. Here I will take my fill slowly, for every difficulty has been cleared away. The household work had given me much sorrow, and the exhaustion only grew with each labor. For a long time I watched for this path, and today the load of suffering is set down. So much pretense and worldly managing I had to keep up; at last I have come out from the grip of appearances. Tuka says: here the journey ends, and the mind rests in supreme bliss.
What it means
Tukaram tells of a reunion that ends a long separation, the rupture that mere time had forced upon him. Now that he is here, he means to take his fill without hurry, because the obstacles are gone. He counts what he is leaving behind: the sorrow of household duties, the mounting fatigue, the long watch for the way, the endless keeping up of appearances and worldly affairs. All of that he calls the grip of the laukika, the outward and social world, and he has stepped out of it. The journey reaches its end and the mind finally settles into paramananda, supreme bliss.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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