Ecstasy, sharing the nectar
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सेवितों रस तो वांटितों आणिकां । घ्या रे होऊं नका राणभरी ॥१॥
विटेवरी ज्याचीं पाउलें समान । तो चि एक दानशूर दाता ॥ध्रु.॥
मनाचे संकल्प पाववील सिद्धी । जरी राहे बुद्धी याचे पायीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मज धाडिलें निरोपा । मारग हा सोपा सुखरूप ॥३॥
ऐसे ऐसियानें भेटती ते साधु । ज्याच्या दरशनें तुटे भवबंदु ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I drink this nectar and distribute it to all. Take it, do not remain lost in worldly wandering. He whose feet rest evenly upon the brick is the one true generous giver. He will fulfill every desire of the mind if the intellect remains fixed at his feet. Says Tuka, he has sent me with this message: this path is easy and full of bliss.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I drink this nectar and share it out to all. Take it; do not stay lost in worldly wandering. He whose feet rest level on the brick is the one true open-handed giver. He will bring the mind's resolves to fulfillment, if the mind stays at his feet. Tuka says: he has sent me with this message. This road is easy; it is made of bliss. Going this way, you meet the saints, by whose sight the bond of birth and death is cut.
What it means
Tukaram speaks as one already drinking the nectar of the Name and handing it around freely, urging others not to waste themselves wandering in the world. He names Vithoba, whose feet stand even on the brick at Pandhari, as the only truly generous giver, and promises that he fulfills the heart's longings on one condition: that the mind stay fixed at his feet. He frames himself as a messenger sent to report that the road is easy and made of joy, not the hard climb people fear. The last line names the reward: walking this way you fall in with the saints, and the mere sight of them cuts the bond of birth and death.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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