Longing, the weakling's service
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लाजोनियां काळें राहिलें लिखित । नेदितां ही चित्त समाधान ॥1॥
कैसें सुख वाटे वचनाचे तुटी । प्रीतिविण भेटी रुचि नेदी ॥ध्रु.॥
एकाचिये भेटी एकाचा कोंपर । मावेचा पदर कळों येतो ॥2॥
होत्या आपल्या त्या वेचूनियां शक्ती । पुढें जालों युक्तिकळाहीन ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी समर्थ जी देवा । दुर्बळाची सेवा कोठें पावे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Out of shame, Fate has held back its writing; yet even without granting anything, the mind finds its peace. How can one feel joy when words are cut short? Without true love, a meeting gives no satisfaction. In one meeting, one encounters affection, and in another, a cold shoulder; the edge of pretense becomes apparent. Having spent all my available powers, I stand now devoid of skill and strategy. Says Tuka, You are almighty, O Lord; how can a weakling's service ever reach You?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Out of shame, Fate has held back what it would write; yet even with nothing given, my mind finds its rest. How can there be joy when the words are cut off? Without love, a meeting brings no delight. In one meeting there is warmth, in another a cold shoulder; the edge of pretense shows itself. I have spent all the strength I had, and now I stand without skill or scheme. Tuka says: you are the mighty one, O God. How can a weakling's poor service ever reach you?
What it means
Tukaram measures the distance between his small effort and God's greatness, and finds his own resources exhausted. He notices that a meeting without love is empty, and that warmth in one moment and coldness in the next expose the pretense in ordinary affection. Having poured out every power and strategy he had, he is left with nothing of his own to offer. The final question is not despair but its turning point: if the Lord is almighty and the seeker is only a weakling, then the meeting can never be earned by service. What is left is to depend on the strong one, since the weak one's work cannot reach that high.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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