राम
गाथा 149Krishna Leela

The game, coaching the soul to surrender

Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram

मराठी मूळ

लये लये लखोटा । मूळबंदि कासोटा । भावा केलें साहें । आतां माझें पाहें ॥१॥

हातोहातीं गुंतली । जीवपणा मुकली । धीर माझा निका । सांडीं बोल फिका ॥२॥

अंगीकारी हरि । नको पडों फेरी । लाज धरीं भांडे । जग झोडी रांडे ॥३॥

बैस भावा पाठीं । ऐक माझ्या गोष्टी । केला सांडीं गोहो । येथें धरीं मोहो ॥४॥

पाठमोरा डोल । आवरी तें बोल । पांगलीस बाळा । पुढें अवकळा ॥५॥

आतां उभी ठायीं । उभाउभीं पाहीं । नको होऊं डुकरी । पुढें गाढव कुतरी ॥६॥

नामा केलें खरें । आपुलें म्या बरें। तुका म्हणे येरी । पांगविल्या पोरी ॥७॥

हुंबरी - अभंग १

तुशीं कोण घाली हुंबरी । साही पांगल्या अठरा चारी ॥ध्रु.॥

Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)

English Translation

Toss, toss the ball! The root-lock is the waistband, and bhava is the wager. Now watch my turn. Hand to hand she was caught and lost her sense of self. My resolve is firm; drop your feeble words. Let Hari accept you; do not fall into the cycle again. Hold your dignity, you shameless one; the world will beat a shameless woman. Sit behind your bhava and listen to my counsel. Give up the commotion you have made; fix your longing here instead. Turn your back on the world's sway and restrain your speech. You have scattered yourself, child; ahead lies only ruin. Now stand firm in your place and look straight ahead. Do not become a sow, or next a donkey, or a bitch. Nama proved himself true, and I did well for myself. Says Tuka, the rest of the girls were scattered and lost.

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

In Plain Words

Toss it, toss the ball! The root-lock is your waistband, and your wager is bhava itself. Now watch how I take my turn. Hand to hand she was caught, and she lost her sense of being a separate self. My resolve is firm; drop your feeble talk. Let Hari take you up; do not fall back into the cycle again. Hold your dignity, you brazen one, for the world beats down the shameless. Sit close behind your bhava and listen to my counsel: give up the uproar you have raised, and fix your longing here instead. Turn your back on the world's pull and rein in your speech; you have scattered yourself, child, and ahead lies only ruin. Now stand firm in your place. Do not make yourself a pig, a donkey, a stray dog. Nama made his own portion good and true. Tuka says: the others only scattered the girls and lost them.

What it means

Tukaram coaches the soul as a player being taught the game, with the ball-toss as the discipline and bhava, devotion, as the stake. The instruction is concrete: bind yourself at the root-lock, wager your feeling, and in the catching lose the sense of a separate self. He urges the wavering player to let Hari take her up rather than fall back into the round of births, to drop the noise and fix her longing in one place, to stand firm and not degrade herself. He names Namdev as the one who played his turn truly and well, against the many who only scattered and lost. The game is salvation, and it rewards firmness, single feeling, and surrender.

कृष्ण लीला

Krishna Leela

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

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