Longing, lost in the forest
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कान्हो एकली रे एकली रे । तुजसवें चुकलें रे । भय वाटे वनीं मज अबळा धाकली रे ॥१॥
निघतां घरीं आई बा वारी । तुजसवें कां आलियें हरी ॥ध्रु.॥
लोक वाटा सांगती खोटा । परी मी चटा लागलियें ॥२॥
पिकल्या बोरी जालें सामोरी । काय जाणें कोठें राहिला हरी ॥३॥
आड खुंट जालिया जाळी । काय जाणों कान्हें मांडिली रळी ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे जाऊं आलिया वाटा । पाहों हरी पायीं न मोडे कांटा ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Krishna, I am alone, all alone. I was separated from you. Fear grips me in this forest, for I am a timid girl. When I left home, my mother and father tried to stop me; then why did I come with you, O Hari? People warned me you were false, but I was already hooked. The berry bushes have ripened and stand before me, but where has Hari gone? The forest has grown thick with tangled thorns and bushes; who knows what game Krishna has set up now? Says Tuka, let me retrace the path I came by and search for Hari, even if thorns tear my feet without mercy.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Krishna, I am alone, all alone. I lost you. Fear grips me in this forest, for I am a small, weak girl. When I was leaving, my mother and father tried to stop me. Then why did I come with you, Hari? People said the path was false, but I was already caught. The wild berries have ripened and stand before me, but who knows where Hari has gone? The forest has grown thick with thorns and tangled bushes. Who knows what game Krishna has set up now? Tuka says: let me go back along the path I came by and look for Hari, even if the thorns tear my feet.
What it means
A girl who left everything to follow Krishna finds herself alone in a dark forest, and the abhanga lets her fright stand for the soul's panic when the felt presence of God withdraws. She had ignored her parents' warning and the world's cautions, drawn on by a love she could not resist, and now she does not know whether his vanishing is abandonment or another of his games. The ripe berries and tangled thorns are the world she must move through to find him again. Her resolve, to retrace her steps even if the thorns tear her feet, names the price: the seeker keeps searching through pain rather than give up the one she has staked her life on.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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