Ecstasy, the storehouse left open
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एकांतीं लोकांतीं करूं गदारोळ । लेश तो ही मळ नाहीं येथें ॥1॥
घ्यावें द्यावें आह्मीं आपुलिया सत्ता । न देखों पुसता दुजा कोणी ॥ध्रु.॥
भांडाराची किली माझे हातीं आहे । पाहिजे तो पाहें वान येथें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां विश्वासाच्या बळें। ठेविलें मोकळें देवें येथें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In solitude or in the crowd, I shall raise a joyful commotion. There is not the least trace of impurity here. I give and take by my own authority; I do not see anyone else to consult. The key to the storehouse is in my hands; whoever wishes may come and see the wares. Says Tuka, by the strength of faith, God has left everything open and free for us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Alone or in the crowd, I will raise a glad uproar. There is not the least speck of impurity here. I take and I give by my own authority; I see no one else I must ask. The key to the storehouse is in my hand; whoever wishes, let him come and see the goods. Tuka says: by the strength of faith, God has left it all open and free for us here.
What it means
Tukaram sounds a note of fearless abundance. Whether by himself or in a crowd, he will make his joyful noise, and he insists there is nothing impure in it to hide. The boldest stroke is the claim of authority: he gives and takes freely, answering to no one, because the key to God's storehouse has been put in his own hand and anyone may come inspect the wares. He names the source of this freedom in the last line, that it was not seized but granted: by the strength of faith, God has thrown the treasury open and left it free for His own.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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