The devotee's complaint, asking God for his share
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघें अवघीकडे । दिलें पाहे मजकडे । अशा सवंगडे । सहित थोरी लागली ॥१॥
कां रे धरिला अबोला । माझा वांटा देईं मला । सिदोरीचा केला । झाडा आतां निवडे ना ॥ध्रु.॥
भूक लागली अनंता । कां रे नेणसी जाणतां । भागलों वळितां । गाई सैरा ओढाळा ॥२॥
तुका करुणा भाकी । हरि पाहे गोळा टाकी । घेता जाला सुखी । भीतरी वांटी आणीकां ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He gave everything to everyone on all sides but just looks at me. Why have you gone silent with me, Lord? Give me my share. The lunch packs have all been cleared out now; nothing remains to sort through. I am hungry, Ananta. Why do you pretend not to know, though you know everything? I am exhausted from herding these wild, unruly cows. Says Tuka, he pleads with Hari, who glances over and tosses him a morsel. Taking it, Tuka grows content and quietly shares it among the others.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He gave to everyone on every side, then just looks at me. Why have you gone silent with me? Give me my share. The lunch packs are all cleared out now; there is nothing left to sort through. I am hungry, Ananta. Why do you pretend not to know, when you know everything? I am worn out from herding these wild, straying cows. Tuka says: he pleads with Hari, who glances over and tosses him a morsel. Taking it, he grows content, and quietly shares it among the others.
What it means
This is the prayer of one who feels passed over while everyone else is fed. In the cowherd setting Tukaram complains that Krishna fed all the others and then fell silent toward him, so he asks outright for his portion before the meal is gone. He names his exhaustion: he is the one who has been chasing the wild, straying cows. The cows are the restless senses and the herding is the spiritual labor that tires him. Then the turn comes. Hari finally looks his way and tosses him even a single morsel, and that one glance and crumb of grace is enough to fill him. Received, it overflows: he hands it on to the others rather than hoarding it.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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