Longing, the cry for rescue without delay
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अगा करुणाकरा करितसें धांवा । या मज सोडवा लवकरि ॥1॥
ऐकोनियां माझीं करुणेचीं वचनें । व्हावें नारायणें उतावीळ ॥ध्रु.॥
मागें पुढें अवघा दिसे रिता ठाव । ठेवूनि पायीं भाव वाट पाहें ॥2॥
उशीर तो आतां न पाहिजे केला । अहो जी विठ्ठला मायबापा ॥3॥
उरलें तें एक हें चि मज आतां । अवघें विचारितां शून्य जालें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां करीं कृपादान । पाउलें समान दावीं डोळां ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Lord of compassion, I cry out to You: come quickly and deliver me. Hearing my pitiful words, may Narayana be moved to haste. All around, before and behind, I see only emptiness; placing my faith at Your feet, I watch the road. Let there be no more delay now, O Vitthal, my Mother and Father. Only this one thing remains for me; upon reflection, all else has become void. Says Tuka, now bestow Your gift of grace and reveal those even feet before my eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Lord of compassion, I cry out to You: come quickly and set me free. Hearing my words of grief, may Narayana be moved to hurry. Before me and behind me, everything looks empty; I lay my faith at Your feet and watch the road. Do not delay now, O Vitthal, my Mother and Father. This one thing alone is left to me now; when I look, all the rest has become void. Tuka says: now give me the gift of Your grace, and show those level feet to my eyes.
What it means
Tukaram is at the end of his own resources, calling out for rescue and asking that it not be slow. He has looked around in every direction and found only emptiness; nothing in the world holds him up anymore. That stripping-away is not despair here but clearance: when all else has gone void, only God is left, and so God is now his whole hope. He addresses Vitthal as mother and father, the one bond that does not fail. The single thing he asks for is the sight of those feet, set level on the brick at Pandhari, given to him as grace.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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