Longing, no more empty winnowing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं आइकत तुह्मी माझे बोल । कासया हें फोल उपणूं भूस ॥1॥
येसी तें करीन बैसलिया ठाया । तूं चि बुझावया जवळी देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
करावे ते केले सकळ उपाय । आतां पाहों काय अझुनि वास ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आला आज्ञोसी सेवट । होऊनियां नीट पायां पडों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You do not hear my words. Why then should I thresh this empty chaff? Whatever comes to pass, I shall remain seated here; You Yourself must come close to console me, O God. I have tried every remedy there was to try. How much longer should I wait? Says Tuka, the end of my endurance has come. Let me simply fall at Your feet with a straightforward chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You do not hear my words. Why should I keep winnowing this empty chaff? Whatever happens, I will stay seated right here; You Yourself must come close to console me, O God. I have tried every remedy there was. How much longer should I keep watching for You? Tuka says: the end of my endurance has come. Let me just stand up straight and fall at Your feet.
What it means
Tukaram is done with effort and turns it into a final demand of love. He compares his pleading to winnowing empty husks, useless if God will not listen, so he refuses to do more and simply sits, insisting that God must be the one to draw near and comfort him. He has exhausted every remedy and will not keep straining his eyes in waiting. The verse lands on surrender as the last move: when his own endurance is finished, all that is left is to rise and fall plainly at the feet of God.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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