Longing, love that cannot be undone
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
याची सवे लागली जीवा । गोडी हेवा संगाचा ॥1॥
परतें न सरवे दुरी । क्षण हरीपासूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
जालें तरी काय तंट । आतां चट न संटे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे चक्रचाळे । वेळ बळें लाविलें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My jiva has grown attached to His company; there is a sweet envy for that companionship. I cannot bear to be apart from Hari even for a moment. Whatever may come of it, this attachment will not be undone. Says Tuka, like a spinning wheel set in motion, the force of love keeps turning.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My life has grown used to him. There is a sweet, jealous hunger for his company. I cannot stand to be apart, not for a moment, from Hari. Whatever quarrel it brings, it does not matter now; this clinging will not come loose. Tuka says: like a turning wheel, the force of it keeps spinning me.
What it means
Tukaram describes a love that has passed the point of return. His very life has grown accustomed to Hari's nearness, and the longing for it is sweet and possessive, jealous of any distance. He confesses he can no longer bear even a moment apart, and that whatever trouble this attachment costs him, he will not and cannot pry it loose. The closing image is honest about its own helplessness: he is not steering this, he is being turned, like a wheel set spinning by a force greater than his will.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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