The found treasure, sealed in the heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उजळलें भाग्य आतां । अवघी चिंता वारली ॥1॥
संतदर्शनें हा लाभ । पद्मनाभ जोडला ॥ध्रु.॥
संपुष्ट हा हृदयपेटी । करूनि पोटीं सांटवूं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे होता ठेवा । तो या भावा सांपडला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My fortune has blazed bright; all worry has been dispelled. Through the sight of the saints, this gain has been won: Padmanabha has been found. I will seal this treasure within the chest of my heart and store it safely. Says Tuka, the treasure that always existed has now been found through this pure devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My fortune has blazed up bright. Now all my worry is gone. Through the sight of the saints, this gain came: Padmanabha is found. I will make my heart into a chest and shut this treasure safely inside it. Tuka says: the treasure was always there. Through this love, it has been found.
What it means
Tukaram describes the moment of finding God as a sudden clearing of all anxiety. He credits it to the sight of the saints, whose company gave him Padmanabha, the Lord. Having found this, he wants to keep it the way one keeps a treasure, sealing it inside the heart so it cannot be lost. The last line turns the finding inside out: the treasure was never absent, it was there all along, and what changed was that pure devotion finally laid hold of it.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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