Longing, life is worthless without Him
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय वांचोनियां जालों भूमिभार । तुझ्या पायीं थार नाहीं तरि ॥1॥
जातां भलें काय डोिळयांचें काम । जरि पुरुषोत्तम न देखती ॥ध्रु.॥
काय मुख बिळ श्वापदाचे धांव । नित्य तुझें नांव नुच्चारितां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पैं या पांडुरंगाविण । न वचे चि क्षण जीव भला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What good is living if I have merely become a burden on the earth, without any place at Your feet? What use are eyes that do not behold Purushottama? What is this mouth but a cave for beasts if it does not daily utter Your name? Says Tuka, without Panduranga, the soul cannot endure even a single moment.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What is the good of living, if I have only become a weight on the earth, with no place at Your feet? What is the use of eyes, if they do not behold Purushottama? What is this mouth but a den for beasts, if it does not daily speak Your name? Tuka says: without Panduranga, the soul cannot last even a single moment.
What it means
Tukaram measures the worth of his own existence by one thing alone: whether it is turned toward God. A life with no place at the feet of Vitthal is mere dead weight on the earth, eyes that never see Purushottama are useless, and a mouth that does not speak the Name is no better than an animal's hole. The escalating images strip away every reason a person might give for valuing their own life apart from God. The closing line lands the stakes: separated from Panduranga, the soul cannot survive even one moment, so to live is to keep Him before the eyes and the Name on the tongue.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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