Longing, come and embrace me
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येई गे विठ्ठले विश्वजीवनकले । सुंदर घननीळे पांडुरंगें ॥1॥
येई गे विठ्ठले करुणाकल्लोळे । जीव कळवळे भेटावया ॥ध्रु.॥
न लगती गोड आणीक उत्तरें । तुझें प्रेम झुरे भेटावया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धांव घालीं कृष्णाबाई । क्षेम चाहूंबाही देई मज ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Come, O Vitthale, the life-giving art of the universe. O beautiful dark-hued Panduranga. Come, O Vitthale, O tide of compassion. My jiva yearns to meet You. No other words taste sweet to me. My love longs to meet You. Says Tuka, rush to me, O Krishnabai. Give me an embrace of welcome with both arms.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Come, O Vitthale, life of the whole world. Beautiful dark cloud-blue Panduranga. Come, O Vitthale, You wave of compassion. My soul aches to meet You. No other words taste sweet to me. My love pines to meet You. Tuka says: come running, O Krishnabai. Give me a welcoming embrace with both Your arms.
What it means
This is a cry of longing addressed straight to the Lord, here called Vitthale and Krishnabai in tender, almost motherly terms. Tukaram names God as the life of the universe and a wave of compassion, then turns from praise to ache: his soul yearns only to meet Him, and no other words are sweet. The verse ends not with theology but with a plain physical request, that God come running and hold him with both arms. The whole abhanga is the impatience of one who wants only the meeting.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →