Longing, the ache of separation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आर्त माझ्या बहु पोटीं । व्हावीं भेटी पायांशी ॥1॥
यासी तुह्मी कृपावंता । माझी चिंता असों द्या ॥ ।ध्रु.॥
तळमळ करी चित्त । अखंडित वियोगें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पंढरिनाथा । जाणें वेथा अंतरिंची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My chitta aches deeply to meet Your feet. O gracious one, keep Your concern upon me. My mind writhes ceaselessly in the pain of separation from You. Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, You know the suffering of my inner being.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is a deep ache in me to reach Your feet, to meet them. O gracious one, keep Your care upon me. My mind writhes without rest in the pain of being apart from You. Tuka says: O Lord of Pandhari, You know the suffering inside me.
What it means
Tukaram is describing the pain of separation as a physical ache, a longing in the gut to touch God's feet. He asks only that the gracious God keep watching over him while the ache lasts. He admits his mind cannot settle, twisting ceaselessly because he is parted from the one he loves. The comfort he reaches for at the end is that nothing of this hidden suffering is unseen: the Lord of Pandhari already knows the wound within him.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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