Drawn by the flute, work forgotten
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चेंडू चौगुणा खेळती वाळवंटीं । चला चला म्हणती पाहूं दृष्टी वो ॥१॥
ऐशा गोपिका त्या कामातुरा नारी । चित्त विव्हळ देखावया हरी ।
मिस पाणियाचें करितील घरीं । बारा सोळा मिळोनि परस्परीं वो ॥ध्रु.॥
चिरें चोळिया त्या धुतां विसरती । ऊर्ध्व लक्ष लागलें कृष्णमूर्ती ।
कोणा नाठवे कोण कुळ याती । जालीं ताटस्त सकळ नेत्रपातीं वो ॥२॥
दंतधावनाचा मुखामाजी हात । वाद्यें वाजती नाइके जनमात ।
करी श्रवण कृष्णवेणुगीत । स्वामी तुकयाचा पुरवील मनोरथ वो ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
They are playing chendoo-chauguna on the sandy banks. Come, come, say the women, let us go watch. Those gopis, those love-struck women, their hearts yearning to see Hari, use the excuse of fetching water from home, gathering in groups of twelve and sixteen. While washing their garments they forget what they are doing, their gaze fixed upward on the form of Krishna. No one remembers name or family or caste; all are spellbound, frozen in the direction of his glance. One has her hand in her mouth for cleaning her teeth, yet does not hear a word the world is saying, for her ears are drinking in Krishna's flute song. Says Tuka, the Lord of Tuka will fulfill every wish of the heart.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They are playing chendoo-chauguna on the sandy banks. Come, come, the women say, let us go and watch. Those gopis, those love-struck women, their hearts aching to see Hari, make the excuse of fetching water from home, and gather in groups of twelve and sixteen. While washing their clothes they forget what they are doing, their gaze fixed upward on the form of Krishna. No one remembers her name, her family, her caste; all stand spellbound, frozen in the line of his glance. One has her hand in her mouth, cleaning her teeth, and does not hear a word the world is saying, for her ears are drinking in Krishna's flute song. Tuka says: the Lord of Tuka will fulfill every wish of the heart.
What it means
The gopis invent an errand, fetching water, to go where Krishna plays, and once there the errand falls away entirely. Washing forgotten, teeth half-cleaned, names and caste and family all slip from mind as their attention is pulled upward to his form and his flute. Tukaram is showing how the pull of God dissolves ordinary identity and the world's chatter; the woman with her hand still in her mouth hears nothing but the flute. The closing line makes the promise explicit: this is no loss but a fulfillment, for the Lord grants the heart's deepest wish to the one who is taken up in him.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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