Adoration, singing the deeds of Gopala
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गाईन ते लीळा चरित्र पवाडे । राखिले संवगडे सहित गाई ॥१॥
चोरिलें नवनीत बांधविला गळा । जे तुम्हीं गोपाळा छंद केले ॥ध्रु.॥
मोहिल्या गोपिका पांवयाच्या छंदें । केली ते गोविंदें क्रीडा गाऊं ॥२॥
मायबापा लाड दाखविलें कौतुक । तें या आणूं सुख अंतरासी ॥३॥
निर्दाळिले दुष्ट भक्तां प्रतिपाळी । ऐसा म्हणों बळी आमुचा स्वामी ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे सरसी असों येणें वोघें । लागोनि संबंधें सर्वकाळ ॥५॥
डांका - अभंग ८
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let me sing the deeds and glories of the Lord who tended the cows alongside his companions. He stole butter and let himself be bound by the throat. He enchanted the milkmaids with the music of his flute. He showed wondrous affection to his mother and father, and that sweetness we bring now into our own hearts. He destroyed the wicked and protected the devoted. Says Tuka, let us flow on in this current of his company for all time.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will sing the play and the deeds and the glories of the Lord who guarded the cows along with his friends. He stole the fresh butter and let himself be bound by the throat, all the games you played, Gopala. He enchanted the milkmaids with the tune of his flute; let us sing the play that Govinda made. He showed his mother and father his loving wonder; let us bring that sweetness now into our hearts. He crushed the wicked and he protects the devoted. Let us call him strong, our master. Tuka says: let us stay close in this stream, joined to him for all time.
What it means
Tukaram gathers the famous Krishna stories into a song of praise: the cowherd who tends the cattle, steals butter and submits to being tied, charms the milkmaids with his flute, and delights his parents. He names the two faces of the Lord, crushing the wicked and protecting his devotees, and calls him master. The aim is not just to recount the deeds but to draw their sweetness inward, into the singer's own heart. The closing wish is to stay in the current of his company forever, so that remembering his play becomes a way of never leaving him.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
More in this theme →