Ecstasy, the journey home
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरवा झाला वेवसाव । पावलों चिंतिला चि ठाव । दृढ पायीं राहिला भाव । पावला जीव विश्रांती ॥1॥
बरवा फळला शकुन । अवघा निवारिला सिण । तुमचें जालिया दरुषण । जन्ममरण नाहीं आता ॥ध्रु.॥
बरवें जालें आलों या ठाया । होतें संचित ठायींच पाया । देहभाव पालटली काया । पडली छाया ब्रह्मींची ॥2॥
जोडिलें न सरे हें धन । अविनाश आनंदघन । अमूर्तमूतिन मधुसूदन। सम चरण देखियेले ॥3॥
जुनाट जुगादिचें नाणें । बहुता काळाचें ठेवणें । लोपलें होतें पारिखेपणें । ठावचळण चुकविला ॥4॥
आतां या जीवाचियासाठीं । न सुटे पडलिया मिठी। तुका ह्मणे सिणलों जगजेठी । न लगो दिठी दुसयाची ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What a blessed transaction this has been. I have reached the very place I longed for. My devotion has become firm at Your feet, and my soul has found true rest. A good omen has borne fruit, and all weariness has been dispelled. Now that I have beheld You, there is no more birth or death. I came to this holy place, and my destined merit was waiting right here. The body-sense has been transformed, and the shadow of Brahman has fallen upon me. The wealth I have gained is inexhaustible, the bliss of imperishable Narayana. I have seen the even feet of that formless yet embodied Madhusudana. This is an ancient coin from the beginning of the ages, a treasure hidden for so long, lost through estrangement. Now for the sake of this soul I will not let go of my embrace. Says Tuka, I am weary, O Lord of the World; let no other sight distract me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This has turned out to be a good piece of trade. I have reached the very place I longed for. My love has come to rest, firm at his feet, and my soul has found its rest. The omen has borne good fruit. All my weariness is gone. Now that I have seen you, there is no more birth and death for me. It was good that I came to this place. The merit I had stored was waiting right here. The body-sense has changed; the body itself is changed. The shadow of Brahman has fallen on me. This wealth I have gained does not run out. It is the deathless mass of bliss. I have seen the even feet of Madhusudana, the formless one who took form. This is an old coin from the start of the ages, a treasure kept hidden for a long time, lost through being treated as a stranger. Now, for the sake of this soul, the embrace I have closed will not loosen. Tuka says: I am weary, O Lord of the world; let no other sight catch my eye.
What it means
Tukaram speaks in the language of a merchant who has finally closed the deal of his life. He arrives at Pandhari, sees Vitthal's even feet, and his roaming soul stops and rests; with that sight, birth and death are over for him. He names what he has gained: not perishable goods but a wealth that never runs out, the deathless mass of bliss, the formless God who stands here in form. He calls it an ancient coin, a treasure that was always his but had gone missing only because he had treated God as a stranger. Having grasped it, he refuses to let go; the embrace stays shut, and he asks that nothing else ever draw his gaze away.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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