Ecstasy, carried like a chick
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भोगी जाला त्याग । गीती गातां पांडुरंग । इंिद्रयांचा लाग । आह्मांवरूनि चुकला ॥1॥
करुनि ठेविलों निश्चळ । भय नाहीं तळमळ । घेतला सकळ । अवघा भार विठ्ठलें ॥ध्रु.॥
तळीं पिक्षणीचे परी । नखें चोंची चारा धरी । आणुनियां घरीं । मुखीं घाली बाळका ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ये आवडी । आह्मीं पांयीं दिली बुडी । आहे तेथें जोडी । जन्मांतरींचें ठेवणें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Renunciation came naturally while singing the songs of Panduranga. The grip of the senses has loosened from me. He has made me steady and free of fear and anxiety; Vitthal has taken up my entire burden. Like a mother bird that holds food in beak and claw, brings it home, and places it in her chick's mouth, so does He care for me. Says Tuka, with this love we have plunged at His feet. The treasure stored from past births is right there at His feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Renunciation came of itself while I sang of Panduranga. The grip of the senses slipped off me. He has made me still; there is no fear, no restlessness. Vitthal has taken up the whole burden. Like a mother bird that holds food in beak and claw, brings it to the nest, and puts it in her chick's mouth, so He feeds me. Tuka says: with this love we have plunged at His feet. The treasure stored from past births is right there at His feet.
What it means
Tukaram is describing a letting-go that arrived without effort. Singing of Panduranga, he found renunciation come on its own and the hold of the senses simply loosen. The relief is total: he is made still, without fear or unease, because Vitthal has lifted his whole burden. His image is tender and helpless at once, a chick fed by the mother bird who carries the food and places it in its mouth, which is to say he is no longer the one providing for himself. The plunge at the feet is glad surrender, and there, he says, the treasure saved up across many births is finally found.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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