Joy, Brahman drawn near by the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाचेचिया आळा कविळलें ब्रह्म । चुकविला श्रम पृथक तो ॥1॥
सुलभ जालें सुलभ जालें । जवळी आलें पंढरिये ॥ध्रु.॥
नामरूपाचें बांधलें मोटळें । एक एका वेळे सारियेलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वाटे चुकली वसती । उद्धार तो हातीं आणियेला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through the longing of my speech, Brahman itself has been drawn near; the toil of separateness has been bypassed. How easy it has become, how easy! Pandhari has come close. Name and form have been bundled together, and the whole lot has been settled at once. Says Tuka, the wandering has ceased, and salvation has come into my hands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
By the longing of my speech, Brahman has been drawn close. The toil of separateness has been escaped. It has become easy, it has become easy. Pandhari has come near. The bundle of Name and form was tied up, and the whole load was settled in a single moment. Tuka says: the wandering off the road has ended. Salvation has come into my hands.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts two paths to the same goal. The hard way is to labor at overcoming separateness; the easy way is the longing cry of the Name, which draws the formless Brahman near as the near presence of Pandhari. He bundles Name and form together and says the whole account was cleared at once, in a moment, rather than through long effort. The wandering that had taken him off the road is over. He holds his liberation in his own hands now, and he insists it came easily.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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