Longing, watching the road to Pandhari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पंढरीची वाट पाहें निरंतर । निडळावरी कर ठेवूनियां ॥1॥
जातियां निरोप पाठवीं माहेरा । कां मज सासुरा सांडियेलें ॥ध्रु.॥
पैल कोण दिसे गरुडाचे वारिकें । विठ्ठलासारिकें चतुर्भुज ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धीर नाहीं माझ्या जीवा । भेटसी केधवां पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I gaze constantly toward the road to Pandhari, my hand shading my brow. Send word with those going to my natal home: why have I been abandoned in this in-laws' house? Who is that figure I see in the distance, mounted on Garuda, four-armed, like Vitthala himself? Says Tuka, my jiva has no more patience. When, O Panduranga, will you come to meet me?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I watch the road to Pandhari without stopping, my hand held over my brow. Send word with those who are going to my mother's home: why have I been left here in this in-laws' house? Who is that I see far off, riding on Garuda, four-armed, looking like Vitthala himself? Tuka says: my soul has no patience left. When, O Panduranga, will you come and meet me?
What it means
Tukaram writes as a bride stranded in her in-laws' house, gazing down the road to Pandhari for any sign of home. The image carries the soul's exile: this world is the harsh in-laws' house, and Pandhari, where Vitthal stands, is the mother's home it aches to return to. He begs travelers to carry a message back, asking why he has been abandoned, and his eyes strain at a far-off four-armed figure on Garuda, hoping it is the Lord come at last. The poem ends in raw impatience: the soul cannot wait any longer, and the only question that matters is when God will finally come.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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