Longing, the child's loving claim
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उरलें तें भक्तिसुख । डोळां मुख पाहावें । अंतरींचें कां हों नेणां । नारायणा माझिये ॥1॥
पुरवां तैसी केली आळी । बळी जगदानियां ॥ध्रु.॥
हातीं घेउनि चोरां भातें । दावां रितें बाळका। साजतें हें थोरपण । नाहीं विण वत्सळा ॥2॥
शाहणें तरीं लाड दावी । बाळ जेवीं मातेसी । तुका ह्मणे पांडुरंगा । ऐसें पैं गा आहे हें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What remains is the joy of devotion: to behold Your face with these eyes. Do You not know what lies within my chitta, O Narayana? Fulfill the plea that has been made, O mighty benefactor of the world. You take the food from the hands of thieves and show the child an empty dish; such lordliness suits You, O compassionate one. The clever child displays its affections to the mother in playful ways. Says Tuka, O Panduranga, that is exactly how it is.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What remains is the joy of devotion: to see Your face with these eyes. Do You not know what is inside my heart, O Narayana? Fulfill the demand I have made, O mighty giver to the world. You take the food from a thief's hand and show the child an empty dish; such lordliness suits You, O compassionate one. The clever child shows off its love to its mother in playful ways. Tuka says: O Panduranga, that is just how it is.
What it means
Tukaram presses his one surviving desire, to behold God's face, and dares to call it a claim God owes him. He insists the Lord already knows what is in his heart, so there is no excuse for delay. The middle image is wry: God plays games, snatching away and showing an empty plate, and Tukaram says this teasing is fitting for one who is also tender. Then he names his own posture exactly, a clever child performing its affection before its mother, half play and half real need. The point is the bond itself, where demand, play, and trust are all permitted because the relationship is that close.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →