Longing, the lover protests
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंतरींचें जाणां । तरि कां येऊं दिलें मना ॥1॥
तुमची करावी म्यां सेवा । आतां अव्हेरितां देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
नव्हती मोडामोडी । केली मागें ते चि घडी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दिला वाव । पायीं लागों दिला भाव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you knew what was within from the start, why did you let this longing enter my mind? I came to serve you; will you now cast me aside, O God? There is no undoing what was done in that first moment. Says Tuka, you gave me room and allowed devotion to take hold at your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You knew what was in my heart from the start. Then why did you let this longing into my mind? I came to serve you. Will you now turn me away, O God? There is no undoing what was already done in that first moment. Tuka says: you gave me the room, and you let devotion take hold at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram complains the way a lover complains, holding God responsible for the very longing that now torments him. Since God knew his heart, the desire could not have entered without God's allowance, so rejection now would be unjust. He argues there is no taking back that first moment when love was kindled; the deed is done and cannot be reversed. The closing line nails the logic: it was God who made room and let devotion fasten itself to his feet. Having opened the door, God cannot fairly slam it now.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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