Longing, waiting for the Lord
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरिबिन रहियां न जाये जिहिरा । कबकी थाडी देखें राहा ॥१॥
क्या मेरे लाल कवन चुकी भई । क्या मोहिपासिती बेर लगाई ॥ध्रु.॥
कोई सखी हरी जावे बुलावन । बार हि डारूं उसपर तन ॥२॥
तुका प्रभु कब देखें पाऊं । पासीं आऊं फेर न जाऊं ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Without Hari, my heart cannot endure; how long must I stand here waiting? O my beloved, what fault have I committed? Why have you made me wait so long? If some friend would go and call Hari, I would sacrifice my body to that friend. Says Tuka, when will I see my Lord? Once I reach him, I will never go back.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Without Hari, my heart cannot bear it. How long must I stand here waiting? O my beloved, what fault have I done? Why have you made me wait so long? If some friend would go and call Hari, I would give my body to that friend. Tuka says: when will I see my Lord? Once I reach him, I will never go back.
What it means
Tukaram speaks in the voice of one who cannot endure the absence of Hari and stands waiting, searching herself for the fault that keeps him away. The poem names the ache of separation and the helplessness of not knowing why the meeting is withheld. So great is the longing that she would surrender her own body to anyone who would simply go and call him. The claim it lands is the vow at the end: the meeting she begs for is not a passing visit but a final one. Once she reaches the Lord, she will never turn back to the life she came from.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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