Union, the ceasing of coming and going
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गोवी सांगती वो सकळ ही जन । होतें संचित आणियेलें तेणें वो ॥१॥
गेलें होउनि न चले आतां कांहीं । साद घालितां जवळी दुजें नाहीं ।
अंगीं जडला मग उरलें तें काई । आतां राखतां गुमान भलें बाई वो ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुत कामें मज नाहीं आराणूक । एक सारितां तों पुढें उभें एक ।
आजि मी टाकोनि आलें सकळिक । तंव रचिलें आणिक कवतुक वो ॥२॥
चिंता करितां हरिली नारायणें । अंगसंगें मिनतां दोघेजणें ।
सुखें निर्भर जालियें त्याच्या गुणें । तुका म्हणे खुंटलें येणें जाणें वो ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Everyone tells me it was my own accumulated karma that brought this about. What is done is done, and now nothing else will serve. When I call out, no second voice answers; he has become part of my very limbs, so what else remains? It is good now to quietly guard what I have, for I have many duties and no rest. I finish one task and the next stands waiting. Today I left everything behind, and then he fashioned yet another wonder. Says Tuka, Narayana stole away my worries, and the two of us merged in intimate closeness. Made utterly content by his qualities, all my coming and going has ceased.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Everyone tells me it was my own stored-up karma that brought this about. What is done is done; nothing else will serve now. When I call out, no second voice answers. He has become part of my own limbs, so what else is left? It is good now to quietly guard what I have, for I have many duties and no rest. I finish one task and the next stands waiting. Today I left everything behind, and then he made yet another wonder. Tuka says: Narayana stole away my worries. The two of us merged in close embrace. Made utterly content by his qualities, all my coming and going has ceased.
What it means
Tukaram speaks as one whom God has overtaken so completely that there is no longer any distance to cross. The people around her read it as the ripening of past karma, and she does not argue: what is done is done, and nothing else can change it now. The poem names the union plainly. There is no second voice when she calls, because he has become part of her own body, and her worries have been carried off. The claim it lands is in the last line: when the soul and Narayana merge in this closeness, the restless coming and going of birth and longing simply ends, replaced by contentment in him.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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