Krishna lila, reminding the Lord of his deeds
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अरे कृष्णा आह्मी तुझे निज गडी । नवनीत आवडी देत होतों ॥1॥
अरे कृष्णा आतां राखेंराखें कैसें तरीं । संकटाभीतरीं पडियेलों ॥ध्रु.॥
वरुषला इंद्र जेव्हां शिळाधारीं । गोवर्धन गिरी उचलिला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझे पवाडे गोपाळ । वणिनती सकळ नारायणा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Krishna, we are Your true companions. We used to offer You fresh butter with love. O Krishna, save us now somehow; we have fallen into grave danger. When Indra unleashed his deluge, You lifted the Govardhana mountain on Your fingertip. Says Tuka, the cowherds recount all Your heroic deeds before You, O Narayana.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Krishna, we are your own playmates. We used to give you fresh butter, and gladly. O Krishna, save us now somehow; we have fallen into a great danger. When Indra poured down rain in sheets, you lifted up the Govardhana mountain. Tuka says: the cowherds recount all your great deeds before you, O Narayana.
What it means
The cowherds press their case by reminding Krishna who they are to him and what he has already done. They name their nearness, the playmates who fed him butter with love, and then his own past rescue, the lifting of Govardhana when Indra's storm threatened them. The logic is intimate, not theological: you saved us before, you are ours, save us again. Tuka points out that they are reciting his heroic deeds back to him, holding up his own record as their plea.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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