Ecstasy, the union that never repeats
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
व्हावी भेटी ते जाली गोविंदासीं । आतां सेवा करीन निश्चयेसीं वो ॥१॥
स्थिर स्थिर मज चि साहे करा । बहु कष्ट सोसिल्या येरझारा ।
येथें आड मज न साहावे वारा । देऊनि कपाट आलें तें दुसरें वारा वो ॥ध्रु.॥
मूळ सत्ता हे सायासाची जोडी । नेदी वेगळें होऊं एकी घडी ।
नाहीं लौकिक स्मरला आवडी । आता येणें काळें या वो लोभें वेडी वो ॥२॥
उदयीं उदय साधिला अवकाश । निश्चिंतीनें निश्चिंती सावकाश ।
धरिये गोडी बहुत आला रस । तुका म्हणे हा मागुता न ये दिवस वो ॥३॥
स्वयें सुखाचे जाले अनुभव । एक एकीपाशीं सांगतील भाव ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The meeting I longed for with Govinda has taken place. Now I will serve him with all certainty. Be steady, be steady, and let me bear this quietly, for I have endured too many comings and goings. Let no wind of opposition blow against me here; I have shut the door against all else. This union is the fruit of great effort; he will not let me be separated from him even for a moment. He has forgotten all social propriety for the sake of love; I have gone mad with devotion in this very moment. Daybreak after daybreak the space was earned, and in utter peace there is leisure at last. Such sweetness has come, such abundant nectar. Says Tuka, this day will never come again.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The meeting I longed for with Govinda has happened. Now I will serve him with full resolve. Be steady, be steady, only help me hold still; I have borne too many comings and goings. Let no wind of opposition blow against me here; I have shut the door against everything else. This union is the prize of great effort; he will not let me be parted from him for even one moment. He has forgotten all the world's propriety for love's sake, and in this very moment I have gone mad with longing. Daybreak after daybreak the chance was won, and in deep peace there is rest at last. Such sweetness has come, such abundant nectar. Tuka says: this day will never come again.
What it means
Again in the bride's voice, Tukaram sings the moment the soul's long-sought meeting with God finally arrives. After endless comings and goings, she begs only to be held steady now, to let no opposing wind reach her, having shut the door on all else. The union is the fruit of hard striving, and now the Beloved will not allow even a moment's separation; for love's sake both of them have abandoned the world's sense of what is proper. She has gone mad with devotion, and what follows is deep peace and overflowing sweetness. The last line gives the ecstasy its edge: this day is unrepeatable, a grace that comes once and is never to be taken lightly.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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