Krishna at play, the boy among cowherds
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घेती पाण्यासी हुंबरी । त्यांचें समाधान करी ॥१॥
ऐशी गोपाळांची सवे । जाती तिकडे मागें धांवे ॥ध्रु.॥
स्थिरावली गंगा । पांगविली म्हणे उगा ॥२॥
मोहरी पांवा काठी । तुका म्हणे यांजसाठी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the boys play at lowing like calves by the water, He joins right in and satisfies them all. Wherever the cowherd boys go, He runs behind them. Even the Ganga stood still, and He calmed her, saying, be at peace. Says Tuka, the shehnai, the flute, the stick: all these are just excuses to be with them.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The boys play at lowing like calves by the water. He joins them and makes them all content. Wherever the cowherd boys go, He runs along behind. Even the Ganga stood still; He calmed her, saying, be at peace. Tuka says: the shehnai, the flute, the stick, all of these are only excuses to be with them.
What it means
Tukaram pictures Krishna not as a distant lord but as one boy among the cowherds, lowing like a calf with them by the water and chasing after them wherever they go. The point of the closing line is the upturning: the flute and the staff and the music are not the reason He is there; they are only the pretext. What He actually wants is the company of His devotees. Even the Ganga, a river that should command worship, falls quiet and is comforted by Him. The whole abhanga lowers God into the game so that nearness, not majesty, becomes the measure of love.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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