Krishna, the feast on the Yamuna
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काम सारूनि सकळ । आले अवघे गोपाळ । जाली आतां वेळ । म्हणती आणा सिदोर्या ॥१॥
देती आपुलाला झाडा । गाई बैसविल्या वाडां । दोंदिल बोबडा । वांकड्याचा हरि मेळीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आपुलालिये आवडी । मुदा बांधल्या परवडी । निवडूनियां गोडी । हरि मेळवी त्यांत तें ॥२॥
भार वागविला खांदीं । नव्हती मिळाली जों मांदी । सकाळांचे संदी । वोझीं अवघीं उतरलीं ॥३॥
मागे जो तांतडी । त्यासि रागा येती गडी । तुझी कां रे कुडी । येथें मिथ्या भावना ॥४॥
एक एकाच्या संवादें । कैसे धाले ब्रम्हानंदें । तुका म्हणे पदें । या रे वंदूं हरीचीं ॥५॥
यमुनें पाबळीं । गडियां बोले वनमाळी । आणा सिदोर्या सकळी । काला करूं आजी ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having finished all their tasks, the cowherd boys gathered together. The hour had come, and they said, bring out the provisions. They gave their accounting of the day, and the cows were settled in the enclosures. The pot-bellied, lisping, bent one, Hari himself, joins the circle. Each one, according to his own liking, had bound up his bundle; Krishna sorted through them and mixed the sweetest portions into the common pile. They had carried the weight on their shoulders all morning, and now that the group had finally assembled, every burden was set down. The one who is too eager draws the anger of his friends: why this crooked pretense of yours here? Through the exchange of words between one and another, they were all filled with the bliss of Brahman. Says Tuka, come, let us bow to these songs of Hari. On the banks of the Yamuna, among the cowherd boys, the wearer of the forest garland says: bring all your provisions, let us feast together today.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Their work all finished, the cowherd boys gathered together, and when the hour came they called out, bring out the provisions. They gave their account of the day, and the cows were settled in their pens; and the pot-bellied, lisping, slightly bent little one, Hari himself, joined the circle. Each boy had tied up his bundle to his own taste, and Krishna sorted through them all and mixed the sweetest portions into the common heap. They had carried their loads on their shoulders all morning, and now that the whole company had assembled, every burden was set down. Anyone too greedy and grasping draws his friends' annoyance: why this crooked pretending here? And simply through their talk with one another they were all filled with the bliss of Brahman. Tuka says: come, let us bow to these songs of Hari. On the bank of the Yamuna, among the cowherd boys, the garlanded Lord says: bring all your bundles, and today let us make the feast together.
What it means
The kala itself, the scene Tukaram loves: Krishna as one of the cowherd boys, pot-bellied and lisping and crooked-limbed, sitting in the ring while everyone pools the food they carried all morning. The detail that matters is what Krishna does with the bundles: he mixes them, drawing the sweetest from each into one common heap, so that the feast belongs to all and to no one alone. Burdens carried in isolation are set down once the company gathers; grasping and pretense are gently mocked; and ordinary fellowship, just the boys talking together, becomes the bliss of Brahman. It is Tukaram's picture of the sangha, the company of devotees, where what each brings is shared, sweetened, and turned into joy by the Lord in their midst.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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