Longing, waiting at the door
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझ्या कपाळाच्या गुणें । किंवा सरलेंसे नेणें ॥1॥
नये वचन बाहेरी । उभें तिष्ठतसें दारीं ॥ध्रु.॥
काय सांगायास वेचे। रींद आरंभीं ठायींचे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे किती । भीड धरावी पुढती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whether it is the fault of my own fate, or whether the reserves have simply run dry, I cannot tell. The answer does not come forth, and I stand waiting at the door. What is there to say? The reluctance seems to have been there from the very start. Says Tuka, how long must I keep pressing with this entreaty?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whether it is the fault of my own fate, or whether the store has simply run dry, I cannot tell. No word comes out to me, and I stand waiting at the door. What is there to say? The reluctance seems to have been there from the very start. Tuka says: how long must I keep pressing my plea?
What it means
This is the ache of a prayer that gets no answer. Tukaram cannot tell whether the silence is the working of his own bad fortune or whether God's store of grace has run out for him. No reply comes, so he simply stands and waits at the door, with nothing left to say. The hardest thought is that the reluctance may have been there from the very beginning, not something he caused. Yet even saying this, he keeps asking, naming the strain of having to press a petition that has gone on so long.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →