Devotion, the quarrel of love
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
प्रीतीच्या भांडणा नाहीं शिरपाव । वचनाचे चि भाव निष्टता ॥1॥
जीणें तरी एका जीवें उभयता । पुत्राचिया पिता दुखवे दुःखें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय जाणे तुटों मायेचें लिगाड । विषम तें आड उरों नेणें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज करुणा उत्तरें । करितां विश्वंभरे पाविजैल ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In a quarrel born of love, there is no real conquest or defeat. The words themselves are expressions of devotion. Both parent and child live as one life, and a father feels pained by his son's sorrow. Who can understand when the bond of affection might seem to break? What appears as discord cannot truly stand between them. Says Tuka, if Vishvambhara speaks to me with compassionate words, I shall be fulfilled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In a quarrel born of love there is no prize for winning. The words themselves are just signs of devotion. The two live as one life; a father is pained by his son's pain. Who can say the bond of love would ever break? What looks like discord cannot really stand between them. Tuka says: if Vishvambhara speaks to me with words of pity, I will be made whole.
What it means
Tukaram answers his own boldness toward God. The sharp things he has said are not a fight to be won or lost; in a quarrel between lovers the harsh words are themselves a form of devotion. Parent and child, devotee and God, share one life, so the seeming discord cannot truly divide them. The poem lands on what he actually wants: not victory in the argument but a single compassionate word from Vishvambhara, the all-sustaining Lord, which would be enough to fulfill him completely.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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