Longing, the hunger that is never filled
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हा तों नव्हता दीन । टाळायाच्या ऐसा क्षण ॥1॥
कां जी नेणों राखा हात । कैसें देखावें रडत ॥ध्रु.॥
दावूनियां आस । दूर पळविता कास ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धांव । घेतां न पुरे चि हांव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This was no insignificant moment to be brushed aside. Why, O Lord, do You not stretch out Your hand? How can You bear to watch me weep? You showed me hope and then fled far away. Says Tuka, no matter how far I run, the hunger is never satisfied.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This was no small moment, the kind you brush aside. Why, Lord, do you not hold out your hand? How can you stand to watch me weeping? You showed me hope, then ran far away and slipped from my grasp. Tuka says: however hard I run after you, the longing is never satisfied.
What it means
Tukaram protests against a God who shows himself and then withdraws. He insists this hour of need was not trivial, not something to wave away, and asks why God will not simply reach out a hand. The wounding image is of being shown hope and then watching God flee beyond reach, leaving the devotee weeping. The closing line names the heart of the ache: no matter how fast he chases, the hunger for God is never filled. The complaint is itself a form of pursuit, the longing refusing to give up even as it goes unmet.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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