Longing, the servant calls in the debt
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृपाळु ह्मणोनि बोलती पुराणें । निर्धार वचनें यांचीं मज ॥1॥
आणीक उपाय नेणें मी कांहीं । तुझें वर्म ठायीं पडे तैसें ॥ध्रु.॥
नये धड कांहीं बोलतां वचन । रिघालों शरण सर्वभावें ॥2॥
कृपा करिसी तरि थोडें तुज काम । माझा तरि श्रम बहु हरे ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे मज दाखवीं श्रीमुख । हरेल या भूक डोिळयांची ॥4॥
आणीक दुसरें नये माझ्या मना । राहिली वासना तुझ्या पायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
माझिये वारचें कांहीं जडभारी । तुजविण वारी कोण एक ॥3॥
तुझे आह्मी दास आमुचा तूं ॠणी । चालत दूरूनी आलें मागें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां घेतलें धरणें । हिशोबाकारणें भेटी देई ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The Puranas say You are merciful. Their words are my certainty. I know no other strategy. I simply fall where Your secret lies. I cannot even speak a coherent sentence. I have taken refuge with all my being. If You are gracious, it is a small matter for You, yet it removes my great burden of suffering. Says Tuka, show me Your blessed face. The hunger of my eyes will be stilled. My mind desires nothing other than You. My longing rests only at Your feet. Whatever is heavy and burdensome upon me, who but You can relieve it? We are Your servants, and You are our debtor. This claim has been running for a long time. Says Tuka, I have sat down in protest now. Grant me an audience, that the account may be settled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The Puranas say you are merciful; their words are my one certainty. I know no other strategy. I just fall where your secret lies. I cannot even speak a whole sentence straight. I have taken refuge with all my being. If you are kind, it is a small thing for you, yet it lifts my heavy burden of suffering. Tuka says: show me your blessed face, and the hunger of my eyes will be stilled. My mind wants nothing else. My longing rests only at your feet. Whatever lies heavy and crushing on me, who but you can lift it? We are your servants and you are our debtor; this claim has been running a long time from far back. Tuka says: now I have sat down in protest. Give me an audience, so the account can be settled.
What it means
Tukaram leans his whole case on one fact the scriptures repeat, that God is merciful, since he has no method or eloquence of his own. He admits he cannot argue or perform; he can only fall at the spot where God's mercy hides and take refuge completely. Then he presses a bold claim: a servant has served, so the master has become a debtor, and the debt is overdue. He stages a dharna, the old practice of sitting down at someone's door and refusing to leave until justice is given, and demands a face-to-face meeting to settle the books. The harshness is aimed at God in intimacy, not irreverence; longing has grown into a claim of right that only the sight of God's face can answer.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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