Longing, the gift of tears
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सद्गदित कंठ दाटो । येणें फुटो हृदय ॥1॥
चिंतनाचा एक लाहो । तुमच्या अहो विठ्ठला ॥ध्रु.॥
नेत्रीं जळ वाहो सदां । आनंदाचे रोमांच ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कृपादान । इच्छी मन हे जोडी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let my throat choke with feeling; let my heart burst open with this. O Vitthala, let the one gain of contemplating you be mine. Let tears flow ceaselessly from my eyes; let goosebumps of joy cover my body. Says Tuka, my mind longs for this gift of grace, this joining.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let my throat choke with feeling; let my heart break open with it. O Vitthala, let the one thing I gain be the thinking of you. Let tears flow from my eyes always; let the thrill of joy rise on my skin. Tuka says: my mind longs for this, the gift of your grace, this joining.
What it means
This is a prayer not for relief but for deeper feeling. Tukaram asks for a choking throat, a breaking heart, ceaseless tears, and the bodily thrill of joy, the very signs that the thought of Vitthal has overwhelmed him. He calls remembering God the one gain worth having, the single profit he wants from his life. The final line names what he is really asking for: this flood of feeling is not something he can produce, it is a gift of grace, and what he longs for through it is union with the Lord.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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