Longing, the surrendered last word
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हों सभाधीट । समोर बोलाया नीट । एकलीं एकट । दुजें नाहीं देखिलें ॥1॥
आतां अवघें तुम्हीं जाणां । तुमचें माझें नारायणा । येईल करुणा । ते चि पहा तुह्मांसी ॥ध्रु.॥
ताळ नाहीं माझे बुद्धी । धरली न धरवे शुद्धी । आतां बळें कधीं । कोण्या जन्में निवाड ॥2॥
आतां शेवटीचें । उत्तर तें हें चि साचें । शरण आलें त्याचें । तुका ह्मणे सांभाळा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am not bold enough to speak properly in the assembly. Alone and solitary, I have seen no companion. Now You know everything, O Narayana; whatever passes between You and me, let that compassion come as it may. My mind has no steadiness; I try to hold onto clarity, but I cannot. When, in what lifetime, will the final reckoning come by force of will? Now this is my last and truest word. Says Tuka, protect the one who has come in surrender.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am not bold enough to speak well in the assembly. Alone and by myself, I have seen no other. Now you know everything, Narayana; whatever passes between you and me, let that compassion come as it will. My mind has no steadiness; I try to hold onto clarity and cannot. When, in which birth, will the reckoning come by force of will? Now this is my last and truest word. Tuka says: protect the one who has come to you in surrender.
What it means
Tukaram admits he is no skilled speaker in a public gathering; he stands alone, with no one but God in view. So he hands the whole matter over to Narayana, who already knows it, and waits on whatever compassion comes. He confesses his own mind is unsteady, unable to keep hold of clarity, so he cannot earn the final reckoning by effort or willpower across lifetimes. Stripped of that hope, he speaks his last and truest word, the only ground left: he has surrendered, and asks God to protect the one who has come.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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