Longing, thirst waiting for grace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करावा वर्षाव । तृषाक्रांत जाला जीव ॥1॥
पाहें आकाशाची वास । जाणता तूं जगनिवास ॥ध्रु.॥
संयोगें विस्तार । वाढी लागे तो अंकूर ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे फळें । चरणांबुजें तीं सकळें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Send down Your rain, for my jiva is parched with thirst. I gaze at the sky in longing, and You, the all-knowing one, are the abode of the world. When the union takes place, the sprout grows and expands. Says Tuka, the fruits are all at the lotus of Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Send down your rain. My soul is cracked with thirst. I watch the sky, waiting. You know all; you are the dwelling of the world. When the joining comes, the sprout grows and spreads. Tuka says: all the fruit hangs at your lotus feet.
What it means
Tukaram likens himself to parched ground waiting for rain, with his soul cracked by thirst and his eyes fixed on the sky. The rain he begs for is God's grace, and he reminds the Lord, who is the abode of the whole world, that nothing is hidden from him. The farming image carries the promise: once the rain meets the seed, the sprout grows and spreads, so union is what makes any growth possible. The poem ends by placing every fruit of that growth at God's lotus feet, not in the devotee's own hands. It is the prayer of one who can do nothing but wait and look up.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →