Krishna, the gods begging the leftovers
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आले सुरवर नानापक्षी जाले । सकळ अवतरले श्वापदवेषें ॥1॥
श्वानखररूपी होऊनियां आले । उिच्छष्ट कवळ वेचिताति ॥ध्रु.॥
होऊनियां दीन हात पसरिती । मागोनियां घेती उष्टावळी ॥2॥
अभिमान आड घालोनि बाहेरि । तयां ह्मणे घ्या रे धणी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे धणी लाधली अपार । तया सुखा पार काय सांगों ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The gods came disguised as birds of many kinds, some incarnating as wild beasts. Taking the forms of dogs and donkeys, they arrived to gather the leftover morsels. Becoming humble beggars, they stretched out their hands, asking for the leavings of the meal. Casting aside their pride, they stood outside, and He called out, 'Take your fill!' Says Tuka, they received an abundance beyond measure. How can one describe the extent of that joy?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The gods came as birds of many kinds, and some came down in the shapes of wild beasts. Taking the forms of dogs and donkeys, they came to pick up the leftover morsels. Becoming lowly beggars, they stretched out their hands and asked for the leavings of the meal. Setting their pride aside, they stood outside, and He called to them, take your fill. Tuka says: they received an abundance beyond measure. How can I tell the limit of that joy?
What it means
Tukaram drives home what the gods will lower themselves to do for a taste of Krishna's grace. They cannot share the cowherds' meal as themselves, so they slip in disguised as birds, as beasts, even as dogs and donkeys, just to scavenge the scraps left from the boys' plates. They make themselves into beggars with outstretched hands and lay down the pride that is the very mark of a god, standing humbly outside until the Lord calls, take your fill. The reversal is the teaching: heaven's mighty ones gladly trade rank for leftovers, and what they then receive is a joy so vast the poet says he cannot measure it.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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