Ecstasy, the mind comes to rest
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां कोठें धांवे मन । तुझे चरण देखिलिया ॥1॥
भाग गेला सीण गेला । अवघा जाला आनंदु ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रेमरसें बैसली मिठी । आवडी लाठी मुखासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां जोगें । विठ्ठल घोगें खरें माप ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now where can the mind run, having seen Your feet? Weariness is gone, suffering is gone, and everything has become pure joy. A tight embrace of love has taken hold, and the mouth is fixed in longing devotion. Says Tuka, what suits us is Vitthal, the generous and true measure.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now where can the mind run, once it has seen Your feet? Weariness is gone, suffering is gone; all of it has turned to joy. A tight embrace of love has taken hold, and the mouth is fixed in longing. Tuka says: what suits us is Vitthal, the generous and the true measure.
What it means
Tukaram describes the moment the restless mind finally stops. Having seen Vitthal's feet, the mind has nowhere left to run; the tiredness and pain it carried simply dissolve into joy. Love grips him like a close embrace, and his mouth stays fixed in longing for the Lord. He ends by naming what fits him: not the wide world's offers, but Vitthal himself, generous and a true measure that does not cheat.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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