Renunciation, the holy minstrel's ecstasy
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वेसन गेलें निष्काम जालें नर नव्हे नारी । आपल्या तुटी पारख्या भेटी सौरियांचे फेरी ॥१॥
त्याचा वेध लागला छंद हरि गोविंद वेळोवेळां । आपुलेमागें हासत रागें सावलें घालिती गळां ॥ध्रु.॥
जन वेषा भीतें तोंडा आमुच्या भांडपणा । कर कटीं भीमा तटीं पंढरीचा राणा ॥२॥
वेगळ्या याति पडिलों खंतीं अवघ्या एका भावें । टाकियेली चाड देहभाव जीवें शिवें ॥३॥
सकळांमधीं आगळी बुद्धि तिची करूं सेवा । वाय तुंबामूढासवें भक्ति नाचों भावा ॥४॥
म्हणे तुका टाक रुका नाचों निर्लज्जा । बहु जालें सुख काम चुकलों या काजा ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All worldly costume has fallen away, and what remains is neither man nor woman, free of desire. Cut off from one's own, meeting only with strangers, this is the round of the holy minstrels. The passion for Hari Govinda has taken hold at every moment. Those attached to their old ways laugh and mock, throwing garlands of scorn around our necks. The world fears our strange appearance, but our king stands with hands on hips on the bank of the Bhima at Pandharpur. We have fallen into a separate caste, troubled yet united in a single devotion. We have abandoned all longing for the body and its comforts. The one wisdom that surpasses all others: let us serve that and dance for our Beloved, shaking the gourd-rattle like fools in love. Says Tuka, toss a coin and let us dance without shame; great happiness has come, and the old business of desire is finished.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The worldly costume has fallen away. Desire is gone. I am neither man nor woman now. Cut off from my own people, meeting only strangers, this is the round of the holy minstrels. The longing for Hari Govinda has gripped me, again and again. Those behind me laugh in scorn and hang garlands of mockery around my neck. People are afraid of our strange look, of our brawling ways. But our king stands with hands on hips on the bank of the Bhima, at Pandhari. I have fallen into a caste of my own, sorrowing, yet held together by one single love. I have thrown away all care for the body. The one wisdom that rises above all others, let me serve that. Shaking the gourd-rattle like a fool in love, let me dance the devotion of the heart. Tuka says: toss down a coin and let us dance, without shame. Great happiness has come. The old business of desire is finished.
What it means
Tukaram describes the life of the wandering devotee as a kind of holy madness that the world cannot place. Having dropped worldly identity, even the markers of man and woman, he is cut off from his own people and ridiculed, garlands of scorn thrown around his neck. He accepts the mockery because his eyes are fixed on God standing at Pandharpur, and because one single love now holds his whole life together. The gourd-rattle, the shameless dancing, the tossed coin are signs that he has traded the entire economy of desire for this joy. What looks like foolishness from outside is, for him, the finished end of craving and the arrival of great happiness.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
More in this theme →