Krishna's play, the careless herder
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
या रे करूं गाई । जमा निजलेती काई । बोभाटानें आई । घरा गेल्या मारील ॥१॥
घाला घाला रे फुकारे । ज्याची तेणें चि मोहरे । एवढें चि पुरे । केलियानें सावध ॥ध्रु.॥
नेणोनियां खेळा । समय समयाच्या वेळा । दुश्चिताजवळा । मिळालेति दुश्चित ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे शीक । न धरितां लागे भीक । धरा सकळीक । मनेरी धांवा वळतियां ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Come, let us gather the cows. Why do they lie sleeping? If we arrive home late making a commotion, our mothers will beat us. Drive them, drive them with shouts; let each one lead his own. This much effort will be enough to rouse them. Lost in play, they forgot the proper times and seasons. The careless ones gathered only more carelessness around them. Says Tuka, if you do not learn discipline, you will have to beg. Everyone, hold your minds steady and run after the straying cattle.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Come, let us gather the cows. Why are they lying asleep? If we get home late with a great noise, our mothers will beat us. Drive them, drive them with shouts; let each one round up his own. That much effort will be enough to rouse them. Lost in their play, they forgot the right time and season. The careless ones only gathered more carelessness around them. Tuka says: if you will not learn discipline, you will end up begging. Everyone, hold your minds steady and run after the straying cattle.
What it means
On the surface this is the boys hurrying to round up scattered, sleeping cows before dark, afraid of a beating at home. Underneath, the cattle and the late hour stand for a life let slide. Those who lose themselves in play forget the right times, and carelessness only breeds more carelessness, gathering around the careless one. Tukaram names the stakes plainly: without discipline you will be reduced to begging. The closing call to hold the mind steady and run after the strays is the real instruction, aimed at one's own scattered attention rather than at any actual herd.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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