Adoration of the cowherd, the call to the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कहे सखि तुम्हें करति सोर । हिरदा हरिका कठिन कठोर ॥1॥
नहिं क्रिया सरम कछु लाज । और सुनाउं बहुत हे भाज ॥2॥
और नामरूप नहिं गोवलिया । तुकाप्रभु माखन खाया ॥3॥
राम कहो जीवना फल सो ही । हरिभजनसुं विलंब न पाई ॥ध्रु.॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O friend, you make so much noise. The heart of Hari is hard and unyielding. He shows no deed, no modesty, no shame. How much more of His mischief shall I tell you? He has no name or form other than that of the cowherd. Says Tuka, this Lord has eaten the butter. Say Rama. That alone is the fruit of life. Do not delay in the worship of Hari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O friend, you make so much noise. The heart of Hari is hard and unyielding. He shows no deed, no modesty, no shame. How much more of his mischief shall I tell you? He has no name or form other than the cowherd's. Tuka says: this Lord has eaten the butter. Say Rama. That alone is the fruit of life. Do not delay in the worship of Hari.
What it means
A gopi answers a friend who has been complaining about Hari, and her complaint is really praise. She lists his faults like a lover: he is stubborn, he keeps no rules, he has no shame; she could go on about his mischief, the butter he stole. But the teasing settles into the one thing that matters. This sweet thief has no form except the cowherd, and the same Lord is reached by saying Rama. So Tukaram turns from the play to the practice: the fruit of being alive is to speak the Name, and there is no reason to put it off.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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