Longing, you kindled this love yourself
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करावा कांटाळा नव्हे हें उचित । आधीं च कां प्रीत लावियेली ॥1॥
जाणतसां तुह्मीं रूपाचें लाघव । आपुलें तें जीव घेतें ऐसा ॥ध्रु.॥
काय ह्मणऊनि आलेती आकारा । आह्मां उजगरा करावया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भीड होती आजिवरी । आतां देवा उरी कोण ठेवी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It is not right for you to grow weary of me, for it was you who first kindled this love. You know the power of your own beauty, that it takes the very life of those who behold it. Why then did you take form at all, if only to keep us awake with longing? Says Tuka, until now I maintained some restraint, but henceforth, O God, who can hold back?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is not right for you to grow tired of me. You were the one who first lit this love. You know the power of your own beauty, how it takes the very life of those who see it. Why did you take a form at all, if only to keep us awake with longing? Tuka says: until now I kept some restraint, but now, O God, who can hold back?
What it means
Tukaram presses a kind of loving complaint: God has no right to weary of him, since God is the one who first kindled this love. He points out that God knows full well how irresistible his beauty is, that it steals the life of anyone who beholds it. Then comes the sharp question, why God took visible form at all if it was only going to leave devotees sleepless with longing. He admits that he held himself in check until now, but says the longing has overflowed and restraint is finished. The blame, lovingly, is laid at God's own door.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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