Longing, coaxing the silent God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवा बोलें आतां बोला । त्वां कां धरिला अबोला॥1॥
भेऊं नको देई भेटी । तूं कां पडिलासी संकटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
तुझ्या जीवींचें मी जाणें । ह्मणसी मुक्ती आह्मां देणें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे न लगे कांहीं । चित्त राहो तुझे पायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God, speak now, say something. Why have You become silent? Do not be afraid; grant me Your meeting. Why have You put Yourself in such a difficult position? I know what is in Your chitta: You think You will have to grant me liberation. Says Tuka, I need nothing of the sort. Just let my mind remain at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God, speak now, say something. Why have you fallen silent? Do not be afraid. Grant me your meeting. Why have you put yourself in such a tight spot? I know what is in your heart. You think you will have to give me liberation. Tuka says: I want nothing of the kind. Just let my mind rest at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram teases his silent God the way one coaxes a reluctant friend. He imagines that God has gone quiet out of a kind of worry, as if afraid that meeting Tukaram will oblige Him to hand over liberation. So Tukaram tells God to relax, because he is not after liberation at all. The whole point of the prayer is to release God from that supposed debt: all he asks is that his mind be allowed to stay at God's feet, which is the only gift he ever wanted.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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