Longing, I have paid, now come
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
प्राण समपिनला आह्मी । आतां उशीर कां स्वामी॥1॥
माझें फेडावें उसणें । भार न मना या ॠणें ॥ध्रु.॥
जाला कंठस्फोट। जवळी पातलों निकट ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सेवा । कैसी बरी वाटे देवा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have surrendered my very life-breath; why then this delay, O Lord? Repay what is owed to me; the burden of this debt weighs heavily upon my mind. My throat is hoarse from calling out; I have drawn very near. Says Tuka, how does my service appear to You, O God?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have handed over my very breath to you. Why this delay now, my Lord? Pay back what you owe me; do not let the weight of this debt sit on my mind. My throat has cracked from calling; I have come very near to you. Tuka says: how does my service look to you, O God? Is it good enough?
What it means
Tukaram speaks as a creditor who has already paid in full and is waiting on God. He has surrendered his very life-breath, so he feels entitled to ask, half in love and half in impatience, why God still delays. He frames God's response as a debt that ought to be cleared, a burden he wants lifted from his mind. His body backs the claim: his throat is cracked from calling out, and he says he has drawn very close. The final question is tender and a little anxious, asking whether his service has pleased God, which keeps the demand wrapped inside devotion rather than complaint.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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