Krishna's play, the testing of true love
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भ्यालीं जिवा चुकलीं देवा । नाहीं ठावा जवळीं तो ॥१॥
आहाकटा करिती हाय । हात डोकें पिटिती पाय ॥ध्रु.॥
जवळी होतां न कळे आम्हां । गेल्या सीमा नाहीं दुःखा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हा लाघवी मोटा । पाहे खोटा खरा भाव ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Frightened for their lives and unable to find God, they realize he is no longer near. They cry out in anguish, beating their hands, heads, and feet. When he was close, they did not know his worth; now that he is gone, their grief knows no bounds. Says Tuka, this great trickster tests who is truly sincere and who is false.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They are terrified for their lives. They have lost God. He is no longer near them. They cry out in anguish, beating their hands, their heads, their feet. While he was close we did not know his worth; now that he is gone, our grief has no limit. Tuka says: this great trickster is watching, to see whose love is real and whose is false.
What it means
Tukaram shows the cowherds discovering, only in his absence, what Krishna was worth to them. While he stood beside them they took him for granted; the moment he is gone their grief is boundless. Then comes the turn that reframes the whole scene: the disappearance was no accident but a deliberate test. The trickster Lord hides himself to see who truly loves him and who only loved his presence. The poem holds up a mirror, asking whether our devotion is for God or merely for the comfort of having him near.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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