Longing, no more delay
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शृंगारिक माझीं नव्हती उत्तरें । आळवितों खरे अवस्थेच्या ॥1॥
न घलावा मधीं कामाचा विलंब । तुह्मी तों स्वयंभ करुणामूतिन ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे केलें सन्मुख वदन । देखतां चरण पोटाळीन ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My words are not mere ornamentation; I call out from genuine anguish. Do not interpose any delay of desire between us; You are the self-born embodiment of compassion. Says Tuka, the moment You turn Your face toward me and I see Your feet, I shall clasp them to my breast.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My words are not decoration. I am calling out from real distress. Do not put any delay of wanting between us. You are the self-born form of compassion itself. Tuka says: the moment you turn your face toward me and I see your feet, I will clasp them to my chest.
What it means
Tukaram insists that his cry is genuine, not poetic ornament. He is calling from real anguish and begs God to place no delay between them, no slow withholding. He appeals to who God is: not a distant judge but compassion in person, arisen of itself. The poem ends in a single vivid hope: the instant God turns his face and shows his feet, Tukaram will seize them and hold them against his heart. The whole abhanga presses toward that one touch.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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