Longing, sending word at last
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हे धीर कांहीं पाठवूं निरोप । आला तरीं कोप येऊ सुखें ॥1॥
कोपोनियां तरी देईल उत्तर । जैसें तैसें पर फिरावूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं तया तरी काय एक पोर । मज तों माहेर आणीक नाहीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे असे तयामध्यें हित । आपण निवांत असों नये ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I cannot hold back any longer; let me send word. Even if anger comes, let it come gladly. Even in anger, He will give a reply, returning whatever message He sees fit. If He will not respond, what sort of parent is He? I have no other refuge. Says Tuka, there is benefit in this; one should not sit idle.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I cannot hold back any longer. Let me send word. Even if anger comes, let it come gladly. Even in anger he will answer; he will turn the message back however he sees fit. And if he will not answer, then what sort of parent is he? I have no other home, no other refuge. Tuka says: there is good in this. One should not sit still and idle.
What it means
Tukaram is done waiting in silence and decides to write to God like a child writing home. He would rather provoke a reply, even an angry one, than be met with nothing, because anger at least proves he is heard. He stakes everything on the parent bond: if God will not answer his own child, the very name of parent is empty, and Tukaram insists he has nowhere else to turn. The closing line names the stakes for the devotee, that crying out is itself the work, and silence is not surrender but neglect of one's own good.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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