The forest fire, the cowherds cry to Krishna
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पैल आली आगी कान्हो काय रे करावें । न कळे तें कैसें आजि वांचों आम्ही जीवें ॥१॥
धांव रे हरी सांपडलों संधी । वोणव्याचे मधीं बुद्धि कांहीं करावी ॥ध्रु.॥
अवचितां जाळ येतां देखियेला वरी । परतोनि पाहतां आधीं होतों पाठमोरी ॥२॥
सभोंवता फेर रीग न पुरे पळतां । तुका म्हणे जाणसी तें करावें अनंता ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Look, a fire is coming, O Krishna, what shall we do? We do not know how we will survive today. Run, O Hari, we are trapped; the wildfire surrounds us, and some plan must be made. Suddenly the blaze appeared above us, and when we turned to look back, we found we had already been facing away from it. The flames circle us on all sides; there is no path to run. Says Tuka, O Ananta, you know what must be done; do whatever it takes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look, a fire is coming, Krishna, what shall we do? We do not know how we will live through today. Run, Hari, we are trapped; the wildfire is all around us, some plan must be made. Suddenly the blaze appeared above us, and when we turned to look, we found we were already facing away from it. The flames circle us on every side; there is no way to run. Tuka says: Ananta, you know what must be done; do whatever it takes.
What it means
The cowherds are caught in a wildfire with no escape, and the poem is their cry of helplessness. They see the blaze close in on all sides and confess they cannot save themselves; there is no path out. The last verse hands the whole crisis over to Krishna: addressing him as Ananta, the endless one, they stop trying to plan and simply trust that he knows what to do. Tukaram makes the trapped cowherds a picture of the soul surrounded by danger it cannot master, whose only refuge is to throw itself wholly on God.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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