Longing, the silence of God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां माझ्या दुःखा कोण हो सांगाती । रखुमाईचा पति पावे चि ना ॥1॥
कायविधा त्यानें घातलीसे रेखा । सुटका या दुःखा न होय चि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझी विसरूं नको चिंता । अगा पंढरिनाथा पाव वेगी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now, who will share in my sorrow? The husband of Rukmini does not come. What line of fate has He drawn? There seems no escape from this misery. Says Tuka, do not forget my plight. O Lord of Pandhari, come quickly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now who will share in my sorrow? The husband of Rukmini does not come. What line of fate has He drawn for me? There seems to be no escape from this misery. Tuka says: do not forget my trouble. O Lord of Pandhari, come quickly.
What it means
This is the cry from the gap, when God has not yet answered. Tukaram has no one else to carry his grief and the one he waits for, Rukmini's husband, simply does not come. He wonders what fate has been written against him, since there seems no way out of the pain. Yet even the complaint stays addressed to God: do not forget me, Lord of Pandhari, come quickly. The verse holds longing and trust together, refusing to turn the silence into despair.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →