Krishna's mischief, the offering eaten
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धन्य त्या गौळणी इंद्राच्या पूजनीं । नैवेद्य हिरोनि खातो कृष्ण ॥१॥
अरे कृष्णा इंद्र अमर इच्छिती । कोण तयांप्रति येइल आतां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देव दाखवी विंदान । नैवेद्य खाऊन हासों लागे ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Blessed are those milkmaids! When the offerings were laid out for Indra's worship, Krishna stole them and ate them himself. O Krishna, even the immortal gods long for Indra's favor; who will dare challenge them now? Says Tuka, the Lord reveals His wondrous play, eating the offerings and then bursting into laughter.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Blessed are those milkmaids. When the offerings were set out for Indra's worship, Krishna snatched them and ate them himself. O Krishna, even the immortal gods long for Indra's favor; who will dare go against them now? Tuka says: the Lord shows his wondrous play. He eats the offering and then begins to laugh.
What it means
Tukaram retells the moment Krishna eats the food meant for Indra's worship, and he calls the milkmaids who witnessed it blessed. The middle line names the stakes as the world sees them: Indra is the king the gods themselves court, so to seize his offering should be unthinkable. Krishna does it anyway and then laughs, untroubled by the rank everyone else fears. The laughter is the teaching: the highest celestial authority is a small thing before the one who is its source. The poem invites delight in a God who is not bound by the ceremonies built around lesser powers.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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