Ecstasy, the God who will not leave
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देव जडला जाइना अंगा । यासी काय करूं सांगा॥1॥
वरकड देव येती जाती । हा देव जन्माचा सांगाती ॥ध्रु.॥
अंगीं भरलें देवाचें वारें । देव जग चि दिसे सारें ॥2॥
भूत न बोले निरुतें। कांहीं केल्या न सुटे तें ॥3॥
जीव खादला दैवतें । माझा आणि पंचभूतें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे वाडें कोडें । उभें पुंडलिकापुढें॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God has become fixed in my being and will not leave. What shall I do about this, tell me? Other gods come and go, but this God is a companion for life. The wind of God has filled my body; the whole world appears as God. This spirit within me will not speak a false word; nothing can dislodge it. This deity has consumed my jiva and the five elements. Says Tuka, with great joy, He stands before Pundalika.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God has lodged in my being and will not go. Tell me, what can I do about this? Other gods come and go; this God is a companion for life. The wind of God has filled my body. The whole world looks like nothing but God. The spirit in me will not speak a false word. Nothing I do can shake it loose. This deity has eaten up my jiva and the five elements. Tuka says: with great delight, He stands before Pundalika.
What it means
Tukaram describes possession by God as something he can no longer reverse, half complaint and half wonder. Lesser gods are visitors who arrive and depart, but this one has settled in for good as a lifelong companion. The takeover is total: God's presence fills his body like a wind, the world dissolves into God alone, and try as he might he cannot dislodge it. He says the deity has devoured his very self and the five elements of which his body is made, leaving nothing that is not God. The verse ends in joy, with that same God standing at Pandharpur before the devotee Pundalika who first drew Him there.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
More in this theme →