Longing, faith that has not yet seen
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझा ह्मणवून तुज नेणें । ऐसें काय माझें जिणें॥1॥
तरि मज कवणाचा आधार । करोनियां राहों धीर ॥ध्रु.॥
काय शब्दीं चि ऐकिला । भेटी नव्हतां गा विठ्ठला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां । अभय देई पंढरिनाथा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To call myself Yours and yet not know You: what kind of life is this? Then on whose support shall I steady my mind? Have I only heard of You in words, O Vitthal, without ever truly meeting You? Says Tuka, now grant me fearlessness, O Lord of Pandhari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To call myself Yours and still not know You: what kind of life is this? Then on whose support shall I steady my mind? Have I only heard of You in words, O Vitthal, and never truly met You? Tuka says: now grant me fearlessness, O Lord of Pandhari.
What it means
Tukaram names the ache of a faith that has heard much and seen nothing. He has taken the name of Vitthal's own, yet without direct knowing he feels he has no ground to stand on. The sharp question, have I only heard of You in words, exposes the gap between report and real meeting that secondhand religion leaves open. His closing request is not for proof but for fearlessness, the steadiness that only the meeting itself can give.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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