Story, the child who cried to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दारिद्रानें विप्र पीडिला अपार । तया पोटीं पोर एक असे ॥1॥
बाहेरी मिष्टान्न मिळे एके दिशीं । घेऊनी छंदासि त्या चि बैसे ॥ध्रु.॥
क्षुधाकाळीं रडे देखिलें तें मागे । कांहीं केल्या नेघे दुजें कांहीं ॥2॥
सहज कौतुकें बोले बापमाये । देवापाशीं आहे मागशी तें ॥3॥
तेव्हां तुजलागीं स्मरे नारायणा । जीवींच्या जीवना पांडुरंगा॥4॥
लागली हे क्षुधा जात असे प्राण । काय हें निर्वाण पाहातोसि ॥5॥
प्राण हा उत्कर्ष जाहला विव्हळ । तेव्हां तो कृपाळ धांव घाली ॥7॥
सांडूनि वैकुंठ धांव घाली तई । आळंगिला बाहीं कृपावंतें ॥8॥
तुका ह्मणे दिला क्षीराचा सागर । राहे निरंतर तयापासीं ॥9॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A brahmin was tormented by dire poverty. He had one child. The child would occasionally find sweets somewhere and become fixated on them. When hungry, the child would cry and demand those very sweets, refusing everything else. In playful innocence, the parents said, 'Ask God for what you want.' From that moment the child remembered You, O Narayana, O life of my life, O Panduranga. 'I am starving; my life is ebbing away. What final end are You waiting for?' When the child's distress became unbearable and overwhelming, the compassionate Lord rushed to help. Leaving Vaikuntha behind, He came running and embraced the child with His gracious arms. Says Tuka, He gave the child an ocean of milk and stayed with that family forever.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A brahmin was crushed by deep poverty. He had one small child. One day the child found sweets somewhere outside and grew fixed on them. When hunger came, the child cried and begged for those sweets, and would take nothing else. In simple play, the mother and father said: God has them; ask God for what you want. From then the child remembered You, O Narayana, life of my life, O Panduranga. The child cried: this hunger is on me, my life is leaving; what final end are you waiting to see? When the child's distress rose and overwhelmed him, the merciful One ran. He left Vaikuntha and ran at once; the compassionate One gathered the child in his arms. Tuka says: he gave an ocean of milk, and he stays near that family forever.
What it means
Tukaram tells a small story to show what God answers. A starving child, told in passing to ask God for the sweets he craves, takes the words at face value and calls on Narayana with his whole life on the line. That literal, total trust is the point: the child does not perform devotion, he simply cries from need, and the cry empties him out. Tukaram says the Lord leaves Vaikuntha and runs, embraces the child, and pours out an ocean of milk. The teaching held inside the story is that helpless, single-hearted calling, the kind a child makes, is what brings God running.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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