Going home behind God, no joy apart from him
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
केला पुढें हरि अस्तमाना दिसा । मागें त्यासरिसे थाट चाले ॥1॥
थाट चाले गाई गोपाळांची धूम । पुढें कृष्ण राम तयां सोयी ॥2॥
सोयी लागलिया तयांची अनंती । न बोलवितां येती मागें तया ॥3॥
तयांचिये चित्तीं बैसला अनंत । घेती नित्यनित्य तें चि सुख ॥4॥
सुख नाहीं कोणा हरिच्या वियोगें । तुका ह्मणे जुगें घडी जाय ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
With the setting of the sun, Hari led the way home, the whole troop of cows and cowherds following behind. The cows and cowherds streamed forward, with Krishna and Rama leading in the right direction. Once their course was set toward the Infinite, they followed without needing to be called. The Infinite One sat firmly in their chitta. Day after day they drank the same bliss. No one knows happiness apart from Hari. Says Tuka, without Him, a single moment feels like an age.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
At sundown Hari led the way home, and the whole troop came on behind him. The cows and cowherds streamed forward in a noisy crowd, with Krishna and Rama ahead to set their course. Once their course was set toward the Infinite, they followed without being called. The Infinite One sat firmly in their minds; day after day they drank that same joy. No one knows happiness apart from Hari. Tuka says: without him a single moment stretches into an age.
What it means
Tukaram takes the simple evening scene, the herd walking home behind Krishna at dusk, and reads it as the soul following God. Once the cowherds are turned toward the Infinite, they no longer need to be called; they go because he goes ahead, and he stays seated in their minds so the joy renews itself each day. The closing line names the stake plainly: there is no happiness anywhere except in Hari, and to be without him even for a moment feels like an age. He is describing the pull of a heart that has found its direction and can no longer bear separation.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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