Krishna lila, the sky inside his mouth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एक ह्मणती मुख वासीं नारायणा । पाहों दे वदना डोळेभरि ॥1॥
वासुनियां मुख पहाती सकळ । अवघे गोपाळ व्योमाकार ॥ध्रु.॥
ह्मणती गोपाळ बेटे हो हा देव । स्वरूपाचा ठाव न कळे याच्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अवघे विठोबाभोंवते । मिळाले नेणते लहानथोर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One cowherd says, Open Your mouth, O Narayana; let us gaze upon Your face to their full satisfaction. He opens His mouth and they all look in: every cowherd sees the vast expanse of the sky within. They say, This boy is really God in disguise. The depths of His true nature cannot be fathomed. Says Tuka, they all gathered around Vithoba, young and old, not understanding at all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One says: Open your mouth, O Narayana; let us look our fill at your face. He opens his mouth and they all look in, and every cowherd sees the whole expanse of the sky inside. They say: This boy is really God in disguise. We cannot reach the bottom of who he is. Tuka says: they all gathered round Vithoba, young and old, not understanding at all.
What it means
When he opens his mouth at their asking, they see the entire sky within it, the whole universe inside the child. That sight tells them plainly what their friend is: God hidden in a boy, with a depth they cannot fathom. The poem lets the realization arrive through looking, not through being told. Tuka ends gently on the gap that remains, the crowd of young and old pressed around Vithoba, near to him and loving him, and still not understanding what they are near.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
More in this theme →