Longing, brought to the edge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येतील अंतरा शिष्टाचे अनुभव । तळमळी जीव तया सुखा ॥1॥
आतां माझा जीव घेउनियां बळी । बैसवावें वोळी संतांचिये ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे आलों निर्वाणा च वरी । राहों नेदीं उरी नारायणा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The experiences spoken of by the virtuous will come to pass within, and my jiva yearns for that bliss. Now take my life as an offering and seat me in the company of saints. Says Tuka, I have come to the very edge of desperation. Do not let anything remain unsettled, O Narayana.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The experiences the wise ones speak of will come to pass within me. My soul aches for that bliss. Now take my life as an offering, and seat me in the row of the saints. Tuka says: I have come to the very edge of desperation. Do not let anything stay unsettled, Narayana.
What it means
Tukaram trusts that the inner experiences the realized speak of are meant for him too, and his whole being burns for that joy. He offers up his very life as the price and asks only one thing, to be seated among the saints, in their company. The urgency is stark: he says he has reached the brink of desperation, the point where waiting longer is unbearable. So he presses Narayana to settle the matter now and leave nothing hanging, a prayer with no patience left in it.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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