Longing, calling God to come running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येई वो येई वो येई धांवोनियां । विलंब कां वायां लाविला कृपाळे ॥1॥
विठाबाई विश्वंभरे भवच्छेदके । कोठें गुंतलीस अगे विश्वव्यापके ॥ध्रु.॥
न करीं न करीं न करीं आतां अळस अव्हेरु । व्हावया प्रकट कैंचें दूरि अंतरु ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Come, O come, come running. Why this needless delay, O Merciful One? O Vithabai, Sustainer of the universe, Destroyer of worldly bondage, where are You engaged, O all-pervading One? Do not, do not, do not be indifferent or negligent any longer. To become manifest, what distance is there to cross?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Come, oh come, come running. Why this needless delay, O Merciful One? O Vithabai, Sustainer of the world, breaker of the bondage of becoming, where are you held up, O all-pervading One? Do not, do not, do not be lazy or neglect me any longer. To become visible to me, what distance is there to cross?
What it means
Tukaram cries out in pure impatience, calling God to come running and demanding why the Merciful One is slow. He addresses God tenderly as Vithabai, the one who sustains the universe and cuts the chain of birth and rebirth, and asks where such an all-pervading One could possibly be detained. The triple no, do not, do not, do not, refuses any excuse of delay or indifference. The final line presses the logic of God's own nature: if you are everywhere already, what distance keeps you from simply showing yourself? Longing here turns into an argument God cannot answer.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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