Ecstasy, the self dissolved
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी माजी हारपलें ठायीं जेथींचा तेथें । अदृश्य तें चि जालें कांहीं दृश्य जें होतें ॥१॥
सुखी मी निजलों गा शून्य सारूनि तेथें । त्रिकूटशिखरीं गा दान मिळे आइतें ॥ध्रु.॥
टाकिली पात्र झोळी धर्मअधर्म आशा । कोल्हाळ चुकविला त्रिगुणाचा वोळसा ।
न मागें मी भीक आतां हा चि जाला भरवसा । वोळली सत्रावी गा तिणें पुरविली इच्छा ॥२॥
ऊर्ध्वमुखें आळविला सोहं शब्दाचा नाद । अरूप जागविला दाता घेऊनि छंद ।
घेऊनि आला दान निजतत्व निजबोध । स्वरूपीं मेळविलें नांव ठेविला भेद ॥३॥
शब्द हा बहुसार उपकाराची राशी । म्हणोनि चालविला मागें येतील त्यांसीं ।
मागोनि आली वाट सिद्धिओळीचि तैसी । तरले तरले गा आणीक ही विश्वासी ॥४॥
वर्म तें एक आहे दृढ धरावा भाव । जाणिवनागवण नेदी लागो ठाव ।
म्हणोनि संग टाकी सेवीं अद्वैत भाव । तुका म्हणे हा चि संतीं मागें केला उपाव ॥५॥
आंधळ्यापांगळ्यांचा एक विठोबा दाता । प्रसवला विश्व तो चि सर्व होय जाणता ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The 'I' within me dissolved right where it was; all that was visible became invisible. I slept in bliss, having swept aside the void, and upon the peak of the three-fold summit the gift appeared ready-made. I threw away the begging bag and bowl of merit, demerit, and desire, and escaped the tumult of the three qualities. I no longer beg, for the seventeenth power has arrived and fulfilled every wish. With an upward cry the sound of 'Soham' was raised, and the formless Giver awoke, bringing the gift of self-knowledge. He merged me into my own nature and bestowed the name 'difference' no more. This word is a treasury of blessing, kept alive for those who follow. Says Tuka, the one secret is to hold firm faith; abandon the tricks of knowing and not-knowing, embrace non-dual devotion, for this is the remedy the saints have always used.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The 'I' in me dissolved right where it stood. All that I could see became unseen. I lay down in bliss, having pushed the void aside, and on the peak of the three summits the gift was already waiting for me. I threw away the begging bowl and bag of merit, demerit, and desire. I slipped past the uproar of the three qualities. I no longer beg; this is my certainty now, for the seventeenth power has come and filled every wish. With my face turned upward I called the sound of 'Soham,' and the formless Giver woke and took up the play. He came bearing the gift: my own truth, my own knowing. He merged me into the one nature and set aside the name of difference. This word is full of meaning, a heap of blessing; so I send it on for those who come after. The path opened up behind me, a row of attainments, and others crossed over too, others who trusted. The one secret is this: hold the heart firm. Do not let knowing or not-knowing find a place to stand. So drop all clinging and live in non-dual love. Tuka says: this is the very way the saints walked before me. The one giver for the blind and the lame is Vithoba. He gave birth to the world; he alone knows all of it.
What it means
Tukaram is reporting from inside an experience he says happened to him, the collapse of the separate self. The 'I' dissolves on the spot, the visible world goes unseen, and what is left is rest and a gift already prepared. He throws away the beggar's tools, which here stand for the whole economy of merit and demerit and wanting, and walks past the three qualities of nature instead of bargaining with them. The center of the poem is the turn at the end: the one secret is not technique but firm devotion, refusing to let the mind's pride in knowing (or its shame at not-knowing) take hold. He frames this not as his discovery but as the road the saints have always walked, and he passes the report forward so that others may cross on it too.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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