Longing, weary of all but You
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्व संगीं विट आला । तूं एकला आवडसी ॥1॥
दिली आतां पायीं मिठी । जगजेठी न सोडीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु जालों क्षीदक्षीण । येणें सीण तो नासे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे गंगवास । बहु त्या आस स्थळाची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have grown weary of all company; You alone are dear to me. I have clasped Your feet, O Lord of the world, and I shall not let go. I have become greatly weakened and worn; by this weariness, suffering itself is destroyed. Says Tuka, like one who longs for life by the Ganga, my yearning is for that sacred place alone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am sick of all company; You alone are dear to me. Now I have clasped Your feet, O Lord of the world, and I will not let go. I have grown very weak and worn out, and by this very weariness my suffering is destroyed. Tuka says: like one who longs to live by the Ganga, my yearning is for that holy place alone.
What it means
Tukaram has tired of every other attachment and turned to God as the one thing he still wants. He grips God's feet and refuses to release them. Then he says something striking: his exhaustion is not a defeat but a cure, for by being worn down he is emptied of the very thing that suffers. He compares his longing to the wish to spend one's life beside the Ganga; he wants only the holy nearness of God and nothing else.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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