Ecstasy, the pilgrimage rewarded
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरवें देशाउर जालें । काय बोलें बोलावें ॥1॥
लाभें लाभ दुणावला । जीव धाला दरुषणें ॥ध्रु.॥
भाग्यें जाली संतभेटी। आवडी पोटीं होती ते ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे श्रम केला । अवघा आला फळासी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What a blessed pilgrimage this has been. What words can express it? Gain has doubled upon gain; the soul is satisfied by this holy sight. By great fortune the meeting with saints has taken place; the longing I carried in my heart has been fulfilled. Says Tuka, all the effort I have made has finally come to fruition.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What a blessed journey this has been. What words can say it? Gain has doubled on gain; the soul is filled by the holy sight. By great fortune the meeting with the saints has come about; the longing I carried in my heart is fulfilled. Tuka says: all the effort I made has at last come to fruit.
What it means
Tukaram is overflowing after a pilgrimage and a meeting with the saints, and admits words cannot hold the joy. The gain keeps multiplying, and the darshan, the holy sight, leaves the soul satisfied rather than still wanting. The unspoken frame is that he had carried a long inner longing for this company, and now it has been answered. He closes by naming the whole arc: the effort and hardship of the path were not wasted, they have ripened into this fruit. The poem is the relief and gratitude of a seeker whose striving has finally landed.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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