Ecstasy, cling to the hem and be ferried
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न व्हावें तें जालें देखियेले पाय । आतां फिरूं काय मागें देवा ॥१॥
बहु दिस होतों करीत हे आस । तें आलें सायासें फळ आजि ॥ध्रु.॥
कोठवरि जिणें संसाराच्या आशा । उगवो हा फांसा येथूनियां ॥२॥
बुडालीं तयांचा मूळ ना मारग । लागे तो लाग सांडूनियां ॥३॥
पुढें उलंघितां दुःखाचे डोंगर । नाहीं अंतपार गर्भवासा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे कास धरीन पीतांबरीं । तूं भवसागरीं तारूं देवा ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That which was never meant to be has come to pass: I have beheld your feet. O God, shall I now turn back? For many days I held this longing, and today the fruit of that labor has come. How long can one live on the hopes of worldly life? Let this noose be cut loose right here. Those who have drowned have no trace or path left behind; I must abandon the trail that pulls me back. Ahead lie mountains of suffering, and the torment of the womb has no end. Says Tuka, I will cling to the hem of your yellow garment; you, O God, are my ferry across this ocean of existence.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What was never to be has happened: I have seen your feet. Now, O God, why would I turn back? For many days I carried this longing, and today, after much labor, the fruit has come. How long can one live on the hopes of worldly life? Let this noose be cut loose right here. Those who drowned left no root and no road behind; I must give up the trail that drags me back. Ahead lie mountains of suffering, and the womb's torment has no end. Tuka says: I will cling to the hem of your yellow garment. You, O God, are my ferry across the ocean of being.
What it means
Tukaram has reached the feet he longed for and now refuses to go backward. Seeing God's feet was something he thought could never be, and after many days of longing and hard effort the fruit has finally come, so turning back is unthinkable. He weighs the alternative coldly: worldly hope is a noose, the ones who drowned in it left no path worth following, and ahead of that road lie only mountains of pain and the endless torment of being born again. So he chooses the one hold that saves. He clings to the hem of God's yellow garment and trusts God as the ferry that carries him across the whole ocean of birth and death.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →