Claiming Krishna, friends who will not let go
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कान्होबा आतां तुम्ही आम्ही च गडे । कोणाकडे जाऊं नेदूं ॥१॥
वाहीन तुझी भारशिदोरी । वळतीवरी येऊं नेदीं ॥ध्रु.॥
ढवळे गाईचें दूध काढूं । एकएकल्यां ठोंबे मारूं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे टोकवूं त्यांला । जे तुझ्या बोला मानीत ना ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Krishna, from now on, you and we are inseparable friends. We will not let you go to anyone else. I will carry your bundle and your provisions and will not let you wander off on your own. Let us milk the white cow together and thump the loners who stand apart. Says Tuka, we will poke and prod those who refuse to heed your word.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Krishna, from now on it is just you and us, friends. We will not let you go to anyone else. I will carry your bundle and your provisions, and will not let you wander off up the path. Let us milk the white cow together and thump the ones who stand off alone. Tuka says: we will poke and prod those who will not heed your word.
What it means
Tukaram speaks in the voice of the cowherd boys laying a fond, total claim on Krishna: from now on he belongs to them and goes to no one else. They will carry his load and block his straying, keeping him close on purpose. The play turns mock-fierce in the end, milking the cow together, thumping the loners, prodding those who will not listen to Krishna. Read past the game, the ones who stand apart and ignore his word are the souls who keep their distance from God, and the friends mean to draw them in. The poem holds out belonging to Krishna as something to seize and guard, not let drift.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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