Krishna, the scolding that hides delight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां ऐसें करूं । दोघां धरूनियां मारूं ॥१॥
मग टाकिती हे खोडी । तोंडीं लागली ते गोडी ॥ध्रु.॥
कोंडूं घरामधीं । न बोलोनि जागों बुद्धी ॥२॥
बोलावितो देवा । तुका गडियांचा मेळावा ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now let us do this: catch those two and give them a beating. Only then will they drop this habit, for they have acquired a taste for it. Lock them inside the house and keep silent watch over them. Says Tuka, he calls out to God, gathering his band of friends.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now let us do this: catch those two and beat them. Only then will they drop this trick, for they have got a taste for it in their mouths. Lock them inside the house, and keep silent watch with our wits awake. Tuka says: he calls out to God, gathering his band of friends.
What it means
The villagers, exasperated by the butter thieving, plot to catch the two culprits, give them a beating, and shut them in, because the boys have grown too fond of the mischief to stop on their own. The scolding is a thin cover for affection; everyone is really delighting in Krishna's pranks. The signature line turns it: even as the plan to trap him is laid, the speaker is calling out to God and gathering companions. The deeper note is that the longing to "catch" and hold Krishna, to keep him close behind locked doors, is the devotee's own desire to seize and never lose the playful Lord.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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