Krishna, the absolute become love-struck
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हुंबरती गाये तयांकडे कान । कैवल्यनिधान देउनि ठाके ॥1॥
गोपाळांची पूजा उिच्छष्ट कवळी । तेणें वनमाळी सुखावला ॥ध्रु.॥
चोरोनियां खाये दुध दहीं लोणी । भावें चक्रपाणि गोविला तो ॥2॥
निष्काम तो जाला कामासी लंपट । गोपिकांची वाट पाहात बैसे ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हें चि चैतन्यें सावळें । व्यापुनि निराळें राहिलेंसे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The cows lowed for Him, and He, the treasury of kaivalya, stood ready to bestow. He relished the leftover morsels of the cowherd boys, and the forest-garland-bearing Lord was delighted. He stole and ate milk, curds, and butter; by devotion, the discus-bearing Lord was bound. Though desireless by nature, He became love-struck, sitting and waiting for the gopis' path. Says Tuka, this is the dark-hued Consciousness that, having pervaded all things, yet remains apart.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The cows lowed, and he turned his ear to them, and the treasury of liberation stood ready to give. He ate the cowherd boys' leftover scraps, and the forest-garland-wearing Vanamali was delighted by it. He stole and ate the milk and curds and butter; by their love the discus-bearer let himself be bound. He who has no desire became hungry with desire, and sat watching the path for the gopis to come. Tuka says: this is the dark-hued Consciousness that fills all things and yet stays apart from them.
What it means
Tukaram gathers the homely stories of Krishna's childhood and reads them as a single astonishing fact: the absolute let itself be made small by love. The very treasury of liberation answers a cow's lowing; he who needs nothing relishes the boys' leftovers, gets bound for stealing butter, and the desireless one sits aching with longing, watching for the gopis. Each scene is a deliberate scandal to philosophy, God behaving like a love-struck child. The closing line holds both truths at once: this is the dark-hued supreme Consciousness, which pervades everything and yet remains untouched, choosing out of love to play at being bound.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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