Longing, hold the merciful to His word
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां मोकलावें नव्हे हें उचित । तरी कृपावंत ह्मणवावें ॥1॥
पूवाअ भक्त जाले सर्व आपंगिले । नाहीं उपेिक्षले तुह्मीं कोणी ॥ध्रु.॥
माझिया वेळेसि कां गा लपालासी । विश्व पोसितोसि लपोनियां ॥2॥
करावी ह्मणावी सर्वां भूतीं दया । तरी भेटावया येईन मी ॥3॥
तरी माझे हाती देई मनबुिद्ध । जरि दयानिधि येशील तूं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तूं चि अवघा सूत्रधारी । माझी सत्ता हरी काय आहे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It is not right to abandon me now; if You are to be called compassionate, prove it. All previous devotees were accepted by You; You never neglected any of them. Why do You hide when it is my turn? You sustain the whole world, yet You hide from me. You say one must show compassion to all beings. Then come and meet me. But give my mind and intellect into my own hands, if You, the treasure of mercy, will truly come. Says Tuka, You alone are the master of all strings. What power do I have, O Hari?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is not right to abandon me now; not if You are to be called merciful. All the devotees before me were taken in by You; You neglected none of them. So why, when my turn comes, do You hide? You feed the whole world, and yet You hide from me. You yourself say one must show mercy to all beings. Then come and meet me. But put my mind and intellect into my own hands, if You, the treasure of mercy, will really come. Tuka says: You alone pull every string. What power, Hari, is mine?
What it means
Tukaram presses God with God's own reputation. If He is truly called compassionate, and if He took in every devotee before and neglected none, then to hide now, on Tukaram's turn, breaks His own word and His own teaching that mercy is owed to all. So he demands the meeting, half complaint and half plea. Yet at the close he undercuts his own bargaining: he admits he has no power of his own, that God alone moves every string, so even his mind and intellect must be given back into his hands by grace before anything can happen.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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