राम
गाथा 146Krishna Leela

Krishna, the flute that empties the house

Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram

मराठी मूळ

या हो या चला जाऊं सकळा । पाहों हा सोहळा आजि वृंदावनींचा ॥१॥

वाइला गोपाळें वेणुनाद पडे कानीं । धीर नव्हे मनीं चित्त जालें चंचळ ॥ध्रु.॥

उरलें तें सांडा काम नका करूं गोवी । हे चि वेळ ठावी मज कृष्णभेटीची ॥२॥

निवतील डोळे याचें श्रीमुख पाहातां । बोलती तें आतां घरचीं सोसूं वाईट ॥३॥

कृष्णभेटीआड कांहीं नावडे आणीक । लाज तरी लोक मन जालें उदास ॥४॥

एकाएकीं चालियेल्या सादावीत सवें । तुका म्हणे देवें रूपें केल्या तन्मय ॥५॥

फुगड्या - अभंग २

Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)

English Translation

Come, come, let us all go and see the celebration in Vrindavan today. The cowherd boy has played His flute and that sound falls upon our ears; the chitta cannot hold still, the mind has grown restless. Set aside whatever work remains; do not let anything delay you. This is the very moment I know, the time for meeting Krishna. My eyes will be cooled just by gazing upon His blessed face. Let the household scold as they will; we shall endure the harsh words. Nothing that stands between us and meeting Krishna holds any appeal. Let the world talk, let shame be what it may; the chitta has grown utterly indifferent to it all. One by one they set out, calling to others to join them. Says Tuka, the Lord, through His beauty, has made them all absorbed in Him.

We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.

In Plain Words

Come, come, all of you, let us go and see the festival in Vrindavan today. The cowherd has played his flute, and the sound has fallen on our ears; the heart will not stay still, the mind has gone restless. Drop whatever work is left, let nothing hold you back: this is the very hour I have been waiting for, the time to meet Krishna. My eyes will be cooled just by looking on his face; let the people at home scold me, I will bear their hard words. Nothing that stands in the way of meeting Krishna holds any charm for me now; let the world talk, let shame be what it will, my heart has turned away from all of it. Tuka says: all at once they set off, calling to one another, and God made them one with his own form.

What it means

The gopis hearing Krishna's flute, which is Tukaram's image for the irresistible call of God. The sound makes the heart unable to keep still; work, propriety, the family's scolding, the world's opinion, all of it suddenly weighs nothing against the one chance to meet the beloved. He captures the moment devotion crosses a threshold: the seeker stops counting the cost and simply goes. And the close names the result, the gopis became one with God's own form. To answer the flute completely is not merely to reach God but to be made into him.

कृष्ण लीला

Krishna Leela

Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.

More in this theme →