Caught alone by Hari, the soul that cannot pull free
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एकली न येतें मी ऐसें काय जाणें । कोठें भरलें अवघड या राणें रे ॥१॥
सोडी पालव जाऊ दे मज हरी । वेळ लागला रे कोपतील घरीं ।
सासू दारुण सासरा आहे भारी । तुज मज सांगतां नाहीं उरी रे ॥ध्रु.॥
सखिया वेशिया होतिया । तुज फावलें रे फांकतां तयांसी ।
होतें अंतर तर सांपडतें कैसी । एकाएकीं अंगीं जडलासी रे ॥२॥
कैसी भागली हे करितां उत्तर । शक्ति मावळल्या आसुडितां कर ।
स्वामी तुकयाचा भोगिया चतुर । भोग भोगी त्यांचा राखे लोकाचार वो ॥३॥
गाई गोपाळ यमुनेचे तटीं । येती पाणिया मिळोनि जगजेटी ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I never would have come alone had I known. Who could tell this forest was so full of danger? Let go of my garment, Hari, let me go. It is getting late and they will be furious at home. My mother-in-law is harsh and my father-in-law is formidable; the consequences for you and me cannot be spoken. My friends and companions were with me, and you found your chance when they scattered. Had there been any distance, how would you have caught me? Suddenly, all at once, you clung to me. How weary she is from arguing, her strength failing as she tries to pull her hand free. Says Tuka, the Lord, that expert enjoyer, takes his delight while preserving all outward propriety.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I never would have come alone if I had known. Who could tell this forest was so full of danger? Let go of my garment, Hari, let me go. It is getting late; they will be furious at home. My mother-in-law is harsh, my father-in-law is severe; if anyone tells them of you and me, nothing of us will be left. My friends and companions were with me, and you found your chance when they scattered. If there had been any distance between us, how would you have caught me? All at once you clung to me. How weary she is now from arguing, her strength gone as she tries to wrench her hand free. Tuka says: the Lord, that skilled enjoyer, takes his delight while keeping every outward propriety.
What it means
A gopi caught alone by Krishna pleads to be released, naming the late hour, the harsh in-laws, the ruin that exposure will bring, and Tukaram lets the whole protest stand as the soul's resistance to being seized by God. She notes that she was only caught because her companions scattered and because there was no distance left between them, which is the condition of the soul left alone with the divine. Her arguing tires her and her strength fails as she tries to pull her hand away, the image of a will that cannot free itself from the grip it secretly wants. Tukaram closes by naming Krishna the skilled enjoyer who takes his delight yet keeps every outward form intact, so that the seizing is real but the world sees nothing amiss.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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