Joy fulfilled, the vow bears fruit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
होतों तें चिंतीत मानसीं । नवस फळले नवसीं । जोडिते नारायणा ऐसी । अविट ज्यासी नाश नाहीं ॥1॥
धरिले जीवीं न सोडीं पाय । आलें या जीवित्वाचें काय । कैं हे पाविजेती ठाय । लाविली सोय संचितानें ॥ध्रु.॥
मज तों पडियेली होती भुली। चित्ताची अपसव्य चाली । होती मृगजळें गोवी केली । दृिष्ट उघडली बरें जालें ॥2॥
आतां हा सििद्ध पावो भाव । मध्यें चांचल्यें न व्हावा जीव । ऐसी तुह्मां भाकीतसें कींव । कृपाळुवा जगदानिया ॥3॥
कळों येतें आपुले बुद्धी । ऐसें तों न घडतें कधीं। केवढे आघात ते मधीं । लज्जा रिद्धी उभी आड ठाके ॥4॥
कृपा या केली संतजनीं । माझी अळंकारिली वाणी । प्रीति हे लाविली कीर्तनीं । तुका चरणीं लोळतसे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What I had been longing for in my heart has come to pass; my vows have borne fruit. I have found union with Narayana, that inexhaustible One in whom there is no destruction. I have held His feet in my heart and will not let go. What is the worth of this life otherwise? When will I reach that destination? My accumulated merit has shown me the way. I had been lost in delusion; my mind's course had gone astray. I was deceived by mirages, but now my vision has cleared. It is well. May this devotion now reach fulfillment, and may the mind not waver in between. I beseech You thus with compassion, O merciful Lord of the world. My own intellect understands, yet I cannot bring it about on my own. Great obstacles arise in between; shame and worldly prosperity stand in the way. The saints have shown me grace and adorned my speech. They have instilled love for kirtan. Says Tuka, I roll at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What I longed for in my heart has come to pass. My vows have borne fruit. I have found Narayana, the inexhaustible One, in whom there is no destruction. I have held his feet in my heart, and I will not let go. What is this life worth otherwise? When will I reach that place? My stored-up merit has shown me the way. I had been lost in delusion. My mind ran the wrong way. I was caught in mirages. Now my sight has cleared. It is well. Let this devotion reach its end now, and let my mind not waver in between. I beg you with this plea, O merciful Lord of the world. My own mind understands, yet I cannot bring it about by myself. Great blows fall in between; shame and worldly success stand in the way. The saints have shown me grace. They have adorned my speech. They have set love in my kirtan. Tuka says: I roll at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram is naming a longing that has finally landed and asking that it not slip away. He has found Narayana, the one thing that does not pass, and he refuses to loosen his grip on those feet, because without them this life has no worth. He admits how he got here: lost in delusion, chasing mirages, until his sight cleared and stored merit pointed the way. Then he names the real danger, which is the gap between now and the end: the mind that wavers, the blows that fall, the shame and the lure of worldly success that block the road. He knows the goal with his head but cannot reach it on his own power, so he hands the work to the Lord's mercy and to the saints who tuned his speech and set love in his song.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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