Krishna at home, the veil lifting
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
खेळींमेळीं आले घरा गोपीनाथ । गोपाळांसहित मातेपाशीं ॥1॥
मातेपाशीं एक नवल सांगती । जाली तैसी ख्याती वोणव्याची ॥2॥
ओवािळलें तिनें करूनि आरती । पुसे दसवंती गोपाळांसि ॥3॥
पुसे पडताळुनी मागुती मागुती । गोपाळ सांगती कवतुक ॥4॥
कवतुका कानीं आइकतां त्यांचे । बोलतां ये वाचे वीट नये ॥5॥
नयन गुंतले श्रीमुख पाहतां । न साहे लवतां आड पातें ॥6॥
तेव्हां कवतुक कळों आलें कांहीं । हळुहळु दोहीं मायबापां ॥7॥
हळुहळु त्यांचें पुण्य जालें वाड । वारलें हें जाड तिमिराचें ॥8॥
तिमिर हें तेथें राहों शके कैसें । जालियां प्रकाशें गोविंदाच्या ॥9॥
दावी तुका ह्मणे देव ज्या आपणा । पालटे तें क्षणामाजी एका ॥10॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Krishna returned home with the cowherds, coming to His mother's side. Yashoda asked Nanda and the cowherds to tell her the news of the wildfire. She waved the ritual lamp of protection and asked the cowherds to confirm the tale. She asked again and again, and they told the wondrous story. The delight of hearing their account never grew stale. Her eyes were fixed on His blessed face, and she could not bear to blink. Then, little by little, both parents began to glimpse the truth. Little by little, their merit grew; the thick veil of ignorance lifted. How could darkness remain where the light of Govinda shone? Says Tuka, when God reveals Himself to someone, everything changes in a single moment.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Gopinath comes home from play, the cowherds with Him, to His mother's side. They tell Yashoda a wonder: how the wildfire was put out. She waves the lamp of protection, and asks the cowherds again. She asks once more, and again, and they tell the marvel. Hearing it never grows stale; her words never tire of telling it. Her eyes are caught on His blessed face, and she cannot bear to blink. Then, little by little, both parents begin to see something. Little by little their merit grows large, and the thick darkness is driven off. How can darkness stay where the light of Govinda has dawned? Tuka says: when God shows Himself to someone, everything turns over in a single moment.
What it means
This opens a long retelling of Krishna's childhood deeds, here the homecoming after the wildfire. Yashoda listens to the cowherds' account over and over, and her gaze locks on His face so completely that she will not even blink. Tukaram marks the slow turning in the parents: as they keep looking, their inner merit ripens and the darkness of not-knowing lifts. The point is that no darkness can stand once Govinda's light has dawned. The closing claim is the whole frame: when God truly reveals Himself, the change is not gradual but instant, complete in one moment.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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