World-weariness, take me out of here
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां बरें जालें । सकाळीं च कळों आलें ॥1॥
मज न ठेवीं इहलोकीं । आलों तेव्हां जाली चुकी ॥ध्रु.॥
युगमहिमा ठावा । नव्हता ऐसा पुढें देवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ठेवीं । भोगासाटीं निरयगांवीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now it is good that it became clear to me early. Do not keep me in this world, O Lord; coming here in the first place was a mistake. I had not known beforehand, O God, the weight of this age's darkness. Says Tuka, place me in the realm of suffering if I must endure it for my past deeds.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now it is good. It became clear to me early. Do not keep me in this world, Lord. Coming here at all was a mistake. I did not know beforehand, God, how heavy the darkness of this age would be. Tuka says: if I must pay for what I have done, then put me in the land of suffering.
What it means
Tukaram is so worn down by the world that he counts being born into it as an error, and he is relieved to have seen this clearly while there is still time. He pleads with God not to leave him here, confessing he had no idea how crushing the corruption of this age would prove. The final line is stark: rather than be kept in this world, he would accept even hell as the price of his past deeds. The verse is not despair for its own sake; it is a soul asking to be removed from a place it can no longer trust, and willing to bear the cost.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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