Longing, why the delay, Panduranga
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय तुमचिया सेवे न वेचते गांठोळी । मोहें टाळाटाळी करीतसां ॥1॥
चतुराच्या राया आहो पांडुरंगा । ऐसें तरी सांगा निवडूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण तुह्मां सुख असे या कौतुकें । भोगितां अनेकें दुःखें आह्मा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काय जालासी निर्गुण । आह्मां येथें कोण सोडवील ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Does serving You diminish Your treasury? Why do You keep putting me off out of attachment? O King of the clever, O Panduranga, if that is the case, then tell me plainly. What pleasure do You find in this game while we endure countless sufferings? Says Tuka, have You become formless? Then who will rescue us here?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Does serving You empty Your treasury? Why do You keep putting me off out of fondness? O King of the clever, Panduranga, if that is how it is, then say it plainly. What joy do You take in this game while we go through sorrow after sorrow? Tuka says: have You turned formless? Then who here will set us free?
What it means
Tukaram complains, with affectionate boldness, about God's delay in helping him. He argues that lifting his devotees costs the Lord nothing, that no treasury is drained by it, so the holding back must be deliberate, and he demands a plain answer from the clever King. He cannot see what pleasure the Lord finds in this game while his devotees suffer on and on. The sharpest line is the last: if the Lord has withdrawn into the formless beyond reach and response, then no one is left who can rescue them, so the abhanga is a plea for God to stay near and act, not retreat into formlessness.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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