Krishna, the cry of the abandoned
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कान्हया रे जगजेठी । देई भेटी एकवेळे ॥1॥
काय मोकलिलें वनीं । सावजांनीं वेढिलें ॥ध्रु.॥
येथवरी होता संग । अंगें अंग लपविलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणें पाहिलें मागें । एवढएा वेगें अंतरला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Krishna, Lord of the world, grant me Your darshan just once. Why have You released me in the forest, surrounded by wild beasts? Up to a point, You were with me. Then You concealed Yourself, body behind body. Says Tuka, when I looked behind me, You had vanished at great speed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Kanha, Lord of the world, give me Your meeting just once. Why have You left me in the forest, ringed by wild beasts? Until now You were with me. Then You hid Yourself, body behind body. Tuka says: when I looked behind me, You had slipped away so fast.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from the moment God seems to withdraw. He calls Krishna, the Lord of the whole world, and begs for a single meeting. The complaint is sharp: he feels abandoned in a forest of wild beasts, when only a moment ago God was at his side. He describes the loss in a startling way, as God hiding body behind body, then vanishing with great speed the instant Tukaram turned to look. The poem holds the experience of divine absence without softening it, the ache of one who knew nearness and now finds the place beside him empty.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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