Longing, a life going to waste
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वांयां ऐसा जन्म गेला । हें विठ्ठला दुःख वाटे ॥1॥
नाहीं सरता जालों पायीं । तुह्मी जई न पुसा ॥ध्रु.॥
कां मी जीतों संवसारीं । अद्यापवरी भूमिभार ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पंढरिनाथा । सबळ व्यथा भवरोग ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It pains me, O Vitthal, that this life is going to waste. I have not become worthy at Your feet, and You do not even ask after me. Why do I go on living in this world, an empty burden upon the earth? Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, the disease of worldly existence is a mighty affliction.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It pains me, O Vitthal, that a life like this is going to waste. I have not become worthy at your feet, and you do not even ask after me. Why do I go on living in this world, a mere weight upon the earth? Tuka says: O Lord of Pandhari, the disease of worldly life is a heavy affliction.
What it means
Tukaram grieves that his life is passing without his ever becoming fit for God's feet. He feels both unworthy and unattended, since the Lord does not so much as inquire after him. His own existence seems pointless, only a burden on the earth, as long as it falls short of the one thing he wants. The closing line names the real sickness: not poverty or pain, but worldly existence itself, the bhava-roga, which only the Lord of Pandhari can cure.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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