Resolve, the nectar of tears
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लालुचाईसाटीं बळकाविसी भावा । परी मी जाण देवा जिरों नेदीं ॥1॥
असों द्या निश्चय हा मनीं मानसीं । घातली येविशीं दृढ कास ॥ध्रु.॥
मज आहे बळ आळीचें सबळ । फोडीन अंत्राळ हृदय तुझें ॥2॥
करुणारसें तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे भुलवीन । काढूनि घेईन निज वस्तु ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Out of greed You have snatched away my brother, but know, O God, I will not let this rest. Let this resolve remain firm in my mind; I have girded myself with unshakable determination. I have the power of a fierce and mighty plea; I will split open Your very mind. Says Tukya-bandhu, with the nectar of tears I will beguile You and reclaim what is mine.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Out of greed You have seized my brother, but know this, O God: I will not let it pass. Let this resolve stand firm in my mind; about this I have girded myself tight. I have the strength of a fierce, insistent plea; I will split open Your very heart. Tukya-bandhu says: with the nectar of tears I will beguile You, and take back what is my own.
What it means
The poet accuses God of taking his brother out of a kind of greed and vows not to accept it quietly. He fixes his resolve and names his weapon: not force but the sheer pressure of an insistent, tearful pleading that can break open even God's heart. The nectar of tears is the means by which he means to win, melting God rather than overpowering Him. It is the conviction that persistent, weeping love is itself a power that can reclaim what was taken.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →