Krishna lila, the small child takes the terrible form
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चहुंकडूनियां येती ते कलोळ । सभोंवते जाळ जविळ आले ॥1॥
सकुमार मूतिन श्रीकृष्ण धाकुटी । घोंगडी आणि काठी खांद्यावरि ॥ध्रु.॥
लहान लेंकरूं होत ते सगुण । विक्राळ वदन पसरिलें ॥2॥
चाभाड तें एक गगनीं लागलें । एक तें ठेविलें भूमीवरि ॥3॥
तये वेळे अवघे गोपाळ ही भ्याले । तुकें ही लपालें भेऊनियां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
From all four sides the fiery waves advanced; the ring of flame drew close. There stood the delicate form of little Krishna, with a blanket and a staff upon His shoulder. That small child took on His divine form and opened His terrible, vast mouth. One jaw reached to the sky and the other rested on the earth. At that moment, all the cowherds were terrified. Says Tuka, even I hid myself in fear.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
From all four sides the waves of fire come on. The ring of flame draws near. There stands the delicate little Krishna, a blanket and a staff on his shoulder. That small child took on his divine form and opened his terrible, vast mouth. One jaw reached the sky; the other rested on the earth. At that moment all the cowherds were afraid. Tuka says: even I hid myself in fear.
What it means
The rescue does not come as comfort but as terror. The fire closes in from every side, and the same little boy with his blanket and staff suddenly opens into a form whose mouth spans heaven and earth. The poem holds both pictures at once, the tender child and the engulfing immensity, so the reader feels how the saving power is itself overwhelming. Tuka places himself inside the scene, hiding with the frightened cowherds, refusing to stand at a safe distance and admire. The point is that meeting God's full reality is not soothing; it shakes you.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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