Taste Him once, never return
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृष्ण हा परिचारी कृष्ण हा वेव्हारी । कृष्ण घ्या वो नारी आणिकी ह्मणे ॥1॥
ह्मणे कृष्णाविण कैसें तुह्मां गमे । विळ हा करमे वांयांविण ॥2॥
वांयांविण तुह्मीं पिटीत्या चाकटी । घ्या गे जगजेठी क्षणभरी ॥3॥
क्षणभरी याच्या सुखाचा सोहळा । पहा एकवेळा घेऊनियां ॥4॥
याचें सुख तुह्मां कळलियावरि । मग दारोदारीं न फिराल ॥5॥
लटिकें हें तुह्मां वाटेल खेळणें । एका कृष्णाविणें आवघें चि ॥6॥
अवघ्यांचा तुह्मीं टाकाल सांगात । घेऊनि अनंत जाल राना ॥7॥
नावडे तुह्मांस आणीक बोलिलें । मग हें लागलें हरिध्यान ॥8॥
न करा हा मग या जीवा वेगळा । टोंकवाल बाळा आणिका ही ॥9॥
आणिका ही तुह्मा येती काकुलती। जवळी इिच्छती क्षण बैसों ॥10॥
बैसों चला पाहों गोपाळाचें मुख। एकी एक सुख सांगतील ॥11॥
सांगे जंव ऐसी मात दसवंती । तंव धरिती चित्तीं बाळा ॥12॥
बाळा एकी घरा घेउनियां जाती । नाहीं त्या परती तुका ह्मणे ॥13॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The women say, 'Krishna is our attendant, Krishna is our dealer. Take Krishna, O women, give Him to one another.' Yashoda says, 'How do you pass the time without Krishna? How does the day go by?' 'Why do you stand empty-handed, clapping in vain? Take the Lord of the World for even a moment.' 'Once you taste His joy, you will never wander door to door again.' 'All this play will seem false to you, everything except Krishna.' 'You will abandon every companion and go with Krishna alone to the wilderness.' 'No other words will please you once this Hari-meditation has taken root.' 'You will not then make Him separate from your jiva. You will urge even others toward Him.' 'Others too will come pleading to you, longing to sit near Him for a moment.' 'Come, let us sit and gaze at Gopala's face,' they tell each other, sharing news of their joy. Says Tuka, some women take the child home. They do not bring Him back.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Krishna is our helper, Krishna is our companion in work; take Krishna, O women, says one to another. How do you pass the time without Krishna? she says; the hour goes by in waste. For nothing you sit clapping your hands; take the Lord of the World for even a moment. For just a moment look upon the joy of Him; take Him once and see. Once you know His joy you will not wander door to door again. This play will seem false to you; everything is empty except Krishna alone. You will leave the company of everyone and take the Infinite One and go to the forest. No other talk will please you once this meditation on Hari has taken hold. Then you will not let Him be apart from your life; you will draw even others toward the child. Others too will come begging to you, longing to sit by Him a moment. Come, let us sit and look at Gopala's face, they tell one another, sharing their joy. While Yashoda is speaking such words, they take the child to their hearts. Some women take the child home. Tuka says: they do not bring Him back.
What it means
This is one devotee urging another to taste God just once, sure that one taste will change everything. The argument runs through the poem: try Him for a moment, and you will stop wandering door to door, every other pleasure will look hollow, and you will want to draw others in too. The drift is toward total claim: the lover ends up leaving all company for the Infinite One alone. The quiet final line, that the women who take the child home do not bring Him back, lands the stakes plainly. Once God is truly received into the heart, He is not handed back; that is the cost and the gift of the first taste.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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