Ecstasy, the senses made pure by the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहातां श्रीमुख सुखावलें सुख । डोिळयांची भूक न वजे माझी ॥1॥
जिव्हे गोडी तीन अक्षरांचा रस । अमृत जयास फिकें पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
श्रवणीची वाट चोखाळली शुद्ध । गेले भेदाभेद वारोनियां ॥2॥
महामळें मन होतें जें गांदलें । शुद्ध चोखाळलें स्पटिक जैसें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे माझ्या जीवाचें जीवन । विठ्ठल निधान सांपडलें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Gazing upon Your blessed face, my joy overflows, yet the hunger of my eyes is never satisfied. On my tongue is the sweetness of those three syllables, before which even nectar tastes bland. The path of my ears has been purified; all distinctions of difference are swept away. My mind, which was soiled by great impurities, has become clear as crystal. Says Tuka, the treasure that is Vitthal, the very life of my jiva, has been found.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When I gaze on His blessed face, joy fills me with joy, and the hunger of my eyes will not go. On my tongue is the taste of three syllables; before it, even nectar is flat. The path of my ears has been swept clean and pure, and difference and no-difference are driven away. My mind, which was caked with great filth, has become clear like crystal. Tuka says: the very life of my life, the treasure that is Vitthal, has been found.
What it means
Tukaram describes what happens when the senses are turned wholly toward God. The face of Vitthal feeds his eyes, yet the eyes only grow hungrier, because this joy does not satiate and dull, it deepens. The Name on his tongue makes nectar itself taste flat, and the ears, scoured clean, no longer split the world into difference and sameness. The mind that was thick with impurity has gone clear as crystal. He names the cause plainly: Vitthal, the life of his life, has been found, and that finding is what purifies every sense at once.
Ecstasy and Joy
Triumphant happiness: poems written from the far side of the struggle.
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