Ecstasy, Vitthal alone remains
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सुखाची वसति जाली माझे जीवीं । तुमच्या गोसावी कृपादानें ॥1॥
रूप वेळावेळां आठवीं अंतरीं । बैसोनि जिव्हारीं राहिलें तें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे कांहीं नाठवेसें केलें । दुसरें विठ्ठलें मज आतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
By your grace, O Lord, happiness has taken up residence within my very jiva. Again and again I recall Your form within; it has lodged itself in my innermost core. Says Tuka, Vitthal has made me forget everything else.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Happiness has come to live in my very soul, by your grace, my Lord. Again and again I call your form to mind within me; it has sat down deep in my heart and stayed. Tuka says: Vitthal has now made me forget everything else.
What it means
Tukaram reports a settled inner state, given not earned: by the Lord's grace, joy has taken up residence in his soul. He keeps recollecting God's form, and it no longer comes and goes but has lodged permanently in his innermost heart. The last line names the result plainly: Vitthal has erased everything else from his attention. What looks like forgetfulness is the fruit of single-pointed love, where one presence fills the mind so completely that nothing else can compete for it.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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