Liberation, all of it happened on its own
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरवें जालें लागलों कारणीं । तुमचे राहिलों चरणीं । फेडीन संतसंगती धणी । गर्जइल गुणीं वैखरी ॥1॥
जीवनीं राखिला जिव्हाळा । जालों मी मजसी निराळा । पंचभूतांचा पुतळा । सहज लीळा वर्ततसे ॥2॥
जयाचें जया होईल ठावें । लाहो या साधियेला भावें । ऐसें होतें राखियलें जीवें । येथूनि देवें भोवहुनी ॥3॥
आस निरसली ये खेपे। अवघे पंथ जाले सोपे । तुमचे दीनबंधु कृपें । दुसरें कांपे सत्ताधाकें ॥4॥
अंकिले पणें आनंदरूप । आतळों नये पुण्यपाप । सारूनि ठेविले संकल्प । तुका ह्मणे आपें आप एकाएकीं ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How blessed it is that I have been put to good use and have remained at Your feet. I will satisfy my longing in the company of saints, and my voice will resound with Your virtues. The inmost essence of my life has been preserved. I have become separate from my old self. This body of five elements moves now in effortless play. What was destined to be understood has been understood; this gain has been won through pure devotion. This is what had been safeguarded within, kept by God through all the turns. The lingering desires of this journey have been dispelled; all paths have become easy. By Your grace, O friend of the lowly, all else trembles under Your sovereign authority. Marked as Your own, I abide in bliss. Sin and merit cannot touch me. All imaginations have been put to rest. Says Tuka, all of it happened spontaneously, of its own accord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is good that I have been put to use, that I have stayed at your feet. I will satisfy my longing in the company of saints, and my voice will ring out with your virtues. The deep love of my life has been kept safe. I have become separate from my old self. This body of five elements moves now in easy play. What each was meant to understand has been understood; this gain was won through pure devotion. This is what had been kept safe within me, guarded by God through all the turns. The desires of this journey have been cleared away. Every path has become easy. By your grace, O friend of the lowly, all else trembles under your rule. Marked as your own, I am bliss itself. Sin and merit cannot touch me. All my plans have been laid to rest. Tuka says: it all happened of itself, all at once.
What it means
Tukaram looks back on his release as something done to him, not achieved by him. He is glad to have been put to use and kept at the feet, with the saints' company and the singing of God's virtues to satisfy his longing. The living core of him has been preserved while his old self fell away, so that his five-element body now moves in effortless play, untroubled. The desires that drove the journey are gone, the paths have all turned easy, and marked as God's own he is bliss itself, beyond the reach of sin and merit alike. The signature line carries the whole weight: none of this was his doing; it happened on its own, all at once, by grace.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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