Longing, the body spent in song
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाम आठवितां सद्गदित कंठीं । प्रेम वाढे पोटीं ऐसें करीं ॥1॥
रोमांच जीवन आनंदाश्रु नेत्रीं । अष्टांग ही गात्रीं प्रेम तुझें ॥ध्रु.॥
सर्व ही शरीर वेचो या कीर्तनीं । गाऊं निशिदिनीं नाम तुझें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दुजें न करीं कल्पांतीं । सर्वदा विश्रांति संतां पाई ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the Name is remembered, let the throat choke with emotion and let love swell within the belly. Let there be goosebumps over the whole body and tears of bliss in the eyes; let all eight limbs be saturated with Your love. Let this entire body be spent in kirtan; let me sing Your Name day and night. Says Tuka, I will do nothing else until the end of time. May I always find rest at the feet of the saints.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When the Name is remembered, let the throat choke with feeling and love swell within me. Let goosebumps cover the body and tears of bliss fill the eyes; let all eight limbs be soaked in your love. Let this whole body be spent in kirtan; let me sing your Name night and day. Tuka says: I will do nothing else till the end of time. May I always rest at the feet of the saints.
What it means
Tukaram is praying not for liberation but for the signs of love itself. He asks that remembering the Name break him open: a choked throat, swelling love, goosebumps, tears, the whole body trembling with devotion. He wants no other use for his body than kirtan, and no other occupation, day or night, until the end of time. This is the bhakti claim that the love is the reward, not a means to something further. The closing wish, to rest always at the feet of the saints, places that whole life of singing inside the company of the holy, where such love is kept alive.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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