Krishna lila, please be small again
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गोपाळ प्रीतीनें कैसे विनविती । विक्राळ श्रीपती होऊं नको ॥1॥
नको रे बा कृष्णा धरूं ऐसें रूप । आह्मां चळकांप सुटलासे ॥ध्रु.॥
होई बा धाकुटा शाम चतुर्भूज । बैसोनियां गुज सुखें बोलों ॥2॥
वोणव्याच्या रागें गििळशील आह्मां । तुका मेघशामा पायां लागे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The cowherds lovingly implored Him: Do not take this fearsome form, O Lord. Please, dear Krishna, do not hold such a shape; we are trembling all over. Become small again, our dark four-armed friend, so we may sit together and talk in comfort. In Your fury against the fire, You might swallow us too. Says Tuka, O dark-clouded Lord, I fall at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The cowherds lovingly plead with him: Do not stay this fearsome shape, O Lord. Please, dear Krishna, do not hold such a form; we are trembling all over. Become the little dark four-armed one again, so we may sit together and talk happily. In your anger at the fire, you might swallow us too. Tuka says: O dark-clouded Lord, I fall at your feet.
What it means
Now that the fire is gone, the cowherds want their friend back, not the engulfing immensity. Their love asks for nearness over majesty: come down to our size so we can sit and talk again. They even confess a fear that his fury, having swallowed the fire, might not stop at the fire and could swallow them. The prayer is tender and a little frightened at once. Tuka joins their plea, falling at the feet of the dark-clouded Lord, asking for the approachable face of God rather than the overwhelming one.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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