Longing, the fish out of water
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जीवनावांचूनि तळमळी मासा । प्रकार हा तैसा होतो जीवा ॥1॥
न संपडे जालें भूमिगत धन । चरफडी मन तयापरी ॥ध्रु.॥
मातेचा वियोग जालियां हो बाळा । तो कळवळा जाणा देवा ॥2॥
सांगावे ते किती तुह्मांसी प्रकार । सकळांचें सार पाय दावीं ॥3॥
ये चि चिंते माझा करपला भीतर । कां नेणों विसर पडिला माझा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तूं हें जाणसी सकळ । यावरि कृपाळ होई देवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A fish writhes without water. Just so does my jiva feel. Like a man who knows buried treasure lies near but cannot find it, my mind thrashes with longing. It is like the anguish of a child separated from its mother. Know this pain, O God. How many ways can I describe it to You? Show me the essence: Your holy feet. This worry has scorched me within. I know not why You have forgotten me. Says Tuka, You know all of this. Now be gracious, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A fish writhes without water. That is how my soul feels. Like a man who knows treasure lies buried near but cannot reach it, my mind thrashes with longing. It is the anguish of a child torn from its mother. Know this pain, O God. How many ways can I describe it to You? Show me the essence of all: Your feet. This worry has scorched me inside. I do not know why You have forgotten me. Tuka says: You know all of this. Now be gracious, O God.
What it means
Tukaram piles up images for a longing that has become physical pain: a fish flopping out of water, a man who knows where treasure is buried but cannot dig it up, a child wrenched from its mother. Each one says the same thing, that without God's nearness he cannot rest or even breathe easy. He stops trying to explain it and asks for the one thing that would end it, a sight of the feet. The ache has burned him from within, and he cannot tell why God seems to have forgotten him. He leaves it where the bhakta always does: You already know all of this, so now simply be gracious.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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