Longing, the unbroken silence
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सांता पांचां तरीं वचनां सेवटीं । निरोप कां भेटी एक तरी ॥1॥
कां नेणें निष्ठ केलें नारायणा । न देखें हें मना येतां कांहीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसा न देखें निवाड । कडू किंवा गोड फळ पोटीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
After all these five or ten exchanges of words, give at least a farewell or a meeting, one or the other. Why, O Narayana, do I not see anything coming to mind? You seem to have rendered a complete silence. Says Tuka, I have never seen such a verdict; whether the fruit within is bitter or sweet, I cannot tell.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
After all these five or ten exchanges of words, give me at least one thing: a farewell or a meeting, one or the other. Why, O Narayana, have you gone so completely silent? Nothing comes to my mind to explain it. Tuka says: I have never seen such a verdict. Whether the fruit inside is bitter or sweet, I cannot tell.
What it means
Tukaram asks God for any answer at all, even a refusal, rather than this total silence. After several appeals he wants only clarity: meet me, or send me away, but say something. The silence baffles him, and he cannot find a reason for it in his own mind. The image of the fruit names his suspense: he does not know whether what is ripening inside this waiting is bitter or sweet, judgment or grace, and the not knowing is its own affliction.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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