Longing, kirtan dragged into brawling
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसें कां जालें तें मज ही न कळे । कीर्तनाचे रळेपळे जगीं ॥1॥
कैसें तुह्मां देवा वाटतसे बरें । संतांचीं उत्तरें लाजविलीं ॥ध्रु.॥
भाविकां कंटक करिताती पीडा । हा तंव रोकडा अनुभव ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाम निर्वाणीचा बाण । याचा अभिमान नाहीं तुह्मां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why has it come to this? Even I cannot understand it. The sacred art of kirtan has been reduced to brawling squabbles in the world. O God, how can you find this acceptable? The words of the saints have been put to shame. The devout are tormented by thorny antagonists; this is plain for all to see. Says Tuka, the Name is the ultimate weapon. Have you no pride in it?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How has it come to this? Even I cannot understand it: kirtan turned into quarrels and squabbles in the world. How does this seem all right to you, O God? The words of the saints have been put to shame. The devout are tormented by thorny troublemakers; this is a present, plain experience. Tuka says: the Name is the final weapon. Have you no pride in it?
What it means
Tukaram grieves over what has happened to kirtan, the singing of God's praise, which has been dragged down into brawling and squabbles, and he confesses he cannot make sense of it. He turns the question to God directly: how can you find this acceptable, when the words of the saints are being shamed and the sincere devotees are tormented by petty, thorn-like antagonists, something he says he watches happen plainly. The closing line is the sharpest: the Name is the ultimate weapon, the one defense the devout have, so does God have no pride, no zeal, in defending it? Beneath the protest is faith; only one who trusts God completely dares to scold him for not guarding his own glory.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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