Fear at the brink, the flaw in love
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तीर देखोनियां यमुनेचें जळ । कांठीं च कोल्हाळ करिताती ॥1॥
कइवाड नव्हे घालावया उडी । आपणासि ओढी भय मागें ॥2॥
मागें सरे माय पाउला पाउलीं । आपल्या च घाली धाकें अंग ॥3॥
अंग राखोनियां माय खेद करी । अंतरीचें हरी जाणवलें ॥4॥
जाणवलें मग देवें दिली बुडी । तुका ह्मणे कुडी भावना हे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Seeing the water of the Yamuna, they raised a great outcry on the bank. They could not bring themselves to leap in. Fear held them back. The mother stepped back, foot by foot, instinctively protecting her own body. She mourned outwardly while guarding her body. Hari saw what lay in her heart. Seeing that, God dove deeper. Says Tuka, this was the falseness in their devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Seeing the water of the Yamuna, they raise a great cry at the bank. None has the daring to leap in; fear drags each one back. The mother steps back, foot by foot, and in her fright shields her own body. Guarding her body, the mother grieves; Hari knows what is in her heart. Knowing it, God dives deeper down. Tuka says: this was the falseness in their feeling.
What it means
At the water's edge the great love meets its limit. They wail, but no one dares jump in; even the mother backs away step by step, instinctively protecting her own body while she mourns. Tukaram says Hari reads exactly this in her heart, and in response He dives deeper, withdrawing further. The hard word he lands is kudi bhavana, a falseness in the feeling: grief that still guards the self is not yet surrender. The aim here is self-examination, the test of whether our devotion will actually risk the self or only weep from the safe bank.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
More in this theme →