Longing, waiting for the face
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भेटीलागीं पंढरिनाथा । जीवीं लागली तळमळ व्यथा॥1॥
कैं कृपा करिसी नेणें । मज दीनाचें धांवणें ॥ध्रु.॥
सीणलें माझें मन । वाट पाहातां लोचन ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भूक । तुझें पाहावया मुख ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Lord of Pandhari, my chitta burns with restless aching for Your meeting. I do not know when You will show mercy and come running to this poor jiva. My weary mind and watching eyes are exhausted from waiting. Says Tuka, I am hungry to see Your face.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For the sight of You, Lord of Pandhari, my heart burns with restless aching. I do not know when You will show mercy and come running to this poor one. My mind is worn out, my eyes tired from watching the road. Tuka says: I am hungry to see Your face.
What it means
This is the ache of separation, told as plain bodily wear. Tukaram's heart burns, his mind tires, his eyes are spent from watching the road for a God who has not yet come. He does not pretend to know when mercy will arrive; he only keeps watch. The longing is reduced to its barest form at the end: not for gifts or rescue, but simple hunger to see the Lord's face.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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