Longing, going home to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विठ्ठल सोयरा सज्जन विसांवा । जाइन त्याच्या गांवा भेटावया ॥1॥
सीण भाग त्यासी सांगेन आपुला । तो माझा बापुला सर्व जाणे ॥ध्रु.॥
माय माउलिया बंधुवर्गा जना । भाकीन करुणा सकिळकांसी ॥2॥
संत महंत सिद्ध महानुभाव मुनि । जीवभाव जाऊनि सांगेन त्या ॥3॥
माझिये माहेरीं सुखा काय उणें। न लगे येणें जाणें तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Vitthal is my true companion, my rest, my dear one. I will go to His town to meet Him. I will tell Him my weariness and pain, for He is my loving kinsman who knows everything. I will appeal with folded hands to mother, family, brothers, and all people. To saints, siddhas, great souls, and sages I will go, laying bare my chitta and jiva before them. Says Tuka, in my true home there is no shortage of happiness; there is no need for coming and going.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Vitthal is my kinsman, my good friend, my resting place. I will go to His town to meet Him. I will tell Him all my weariness and pain, for He is my dear one and knows everything. To mother and grandmothers, to brothers and all the people, I will make my plea with folded hands. To saints, mahants, siddhas, great souls, and sages I will go and lay bare my whole inner life. In my true home there is no shortage of happiness. Tuka says: then there is no more coming and going.
What it means
Tukaram frames God as family and Pandhari as the home he is finally walking back to. He pictures himself arriving worn out and pouring out every pain to Vitthal, the one kinsman who already knows it all. Before the meeting he greets the whole household of the holy, mothers, brothers, saints, and sages, opening his heart to them too. The phrase true home carries the weight: this is not just the pilgrim town but the soul's real origin, where lack and want have no place. The closing line, no more coming and going, hints at the end of restless rebirth and wandering: to reach this home is to stop being driven back and forth.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →