Longing, no delay on God's side
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कैसें भलें देवा अनुभवा कां नये । उसीर तो काय तुह्मांपाशीं ॥1॥
आहे तें मागों तों दिसातें जवळी । केल्यामध्यें किळ कोण साध्य ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं सांडीत मी सेवेची मर्यादा । लाविला तो धंदा नित्य करीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हात आवरिला गुंती । माझे तंव चित्तीं नाहीं दुजें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why, O Lord, does this fine truth not come into experience? What delay is there on Your side? What I ask for seems close at hand; what difficulty could possibly stand in the way? I have not abandoned the discipline of service; I perform the appointed task daily. Says Tuka, my hands are occupied with this labor, and truly my heart holds nothing else.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why, O Lord, does this good truth not come into experience? What delay is there on your side? What I ask for seems close at hand. What difficulty could block it? I have not let go of the discipline of service. I do the appointed task every day. Tuka says: my hands are busy with this work, and truly my heart holds nothing else.
What it means
Tukaram is pressing God with a complaint that is also a defense of himself. The truth he longs for feels near, so he cannot understand the delay, and he insists the holdup is not on his end. He has kept the discipline of devoted service, doing the daily task without abandoning it. His point is that he has met his side of the bargain: his hands stay occupied with God's work and his heart has no second object, so what remains is for God to grant the experience.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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