Farewell, Tuka departs for Vaikuntha
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी जातों आपुल्या गांवा । आमुचा रामराम घ्यावा ॥1॥
तुमची आमची हे चि भेटी । येथुनियां जन्मतुटी॥ध्रु.॥
आतां असों द्यावी दया । तुमच्या लागतसें पायां ॥2॥
येतां निजधामीं कोणी । विठ्ठलविठ्ठल बोला वाणी ॥3॥
रामकृष्ण मुखीं बोला । तुका जातो वैकुंठाला ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am going to my own village. Accept my farewell greetings. This meeting of ours is the last; from here, the cycle of birth is broken. Now please bestow your kindness. I touch your feet. When I arrive at my true home, let the words 'Vitthal, Vitthal' be on every tongue. Speak Rama Krishna with your mouths. Tuka is going to Vaikuntha.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am going to my own village. Take my farewell greeting. This meeting of ours is the last; from here the round of births is cut. Now show me your kindness. I touch your feet. When I reach my true home, let the words Vitthal, Vitthal be on every tongue. Say Rama Krishna with your mouths. Tuka is going to Vaikuntha.
What it means
Tukaram speaks as one leaving, calling death a journey back to his own village and his true home. He tells those around him that this is their last meeting, because for him the cycle of birth and death is now broken; he is not coming back. He asks one thing of them in parting: keep the Name going, Vitthal, Vitthal and Rama Krishna on their tongues, after he is gone. The poem turns the terror of dying into a homecoming and hands the survivors not grief to nurse but the Name to carry on.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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