Longing, wounded by God's gaze
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पडिला प्रसंग कां मी ऐसा नेणें । संकल्प ते मनें जिरवले ॥1॥
चेष्टाविलें तरी सांगावें कारणे । भक्ती ते उजेवन करावया ॥ध्रु.॥
लावूनियां दृिष्ट घेतली सामोरी । बैसलें जिव्हारीं डसोन तें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जीवा लाविला तो चाळा । करावें गोपाळा शीघ्र दान ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not know how this occasion came to pass, for I had swallowed all my resolves in my mind. If it was done in jest, then tell me the reason, so that devotion may be made to shine. Having fixed Your gaze upon me and drawn me close, You have bitten deep into my very core. Says Tuka, the longing has been awakened in this jiva; O Gopala, grant Your gift swiftly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not know how this came upon me, for I had already swallowed all my resolves. If you did it in jest, then tell me why, so that devotion can be made to shine. You fixed your gaze on me and drew me close; it has bitten deep into my very core. Tuka says: this longing has been awakened in the soul; O Gopala, give your gift quickly.
What it means
Tukaram is bewildered by a longing he did not choose; he had already quieted his own desires, and then this seized him. He asks God to explain it, even if it was only play, so that the devotion it stirred can be brought to full light. He says God's own look caught and drew him near, and that glance has lodged in his heart like a wound that will not let go. Since it was God who awakened this ache, he presses Gopala to complete it without delay and grant the gift the longing is reaching for.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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