Longing, watching the road for Hari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नेणपणें नाहीं केला हा बोभाट । आतां आली वाट कळों खरी ॥1॥
आतां बहुं शीघ्र यावें लवकरी । वाट पाहें हरी भेटी देई ॥ध्रु.॥
समर्थाच्या बाळा करुणेचें भाषण । तरी त्याची कोण नांदणूक ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बहु बोलिले बडिवार । पडिलें अंतर लौकिकीं तें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It was not out of ignorance that I raised this outcry; now the true path has become visible. Come swiftly now, come without delay; I am watching for You, O Hari, grant me Your meeting. When a mighty lord's child must speak in piteous tones, what kind of household is that? Says Tuka, many grand claims were made, but worldly propriety created the distance.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I did not raise this outcry out of ignorance. Now the true road has become clear to me. Now come, very quickly, come without delay. I am watching the road, Hari; give me your meeting. When a mighty lord's child has to speak in pitiful tones, what kind of house is that? Tuka says: many grand boasts were made, but in plain sight a gap was left.
What it means
Tukaram defends his crying out: it was not the noise of a confused man, but the call of someone who now sees the path plainly. He begs Hari to come fast, and pictures himself standing at the road, waiting for the meeting. Then he shames God with a household image: if a powerful lord's own child is reduced to begging in a pitiful voice, that reflects badly on the lord's house, not the child. The closing line points at the gap between God's great reputation and the visible fact of a devotee left wanting. The poem leans on God's honor to move God to act.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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