Empty words, God withdraws
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भावनेच्या मुळें अंतरला देव । शिरला संदेह भयें पोटीं ॥1॥
पोटीं होतें मागें जीव द्यावा ऐसें । बोलिल्या सरिसें न करवे ॥2॥
अंतरला बहु बोलतां वाउगें । अंतरींच्या त्यागेंविण गोष्टी ॥4॥
गोष्टी सकळांच्या आइकिल्या देवें । कोण कोण्याभावें रडती तीं ॥5॥
तीं गेलीं घरास आपल्या सकळ । गोधनें गोपाळ लोक माय ॥6॥
मायबापांची तों ऐसी जाली गति । तुका ह्मणे अंतीं कळों आलें ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Because of this false feeling, God distanced Himself. Doubt and fear had entered their hearts. They had earlier declared they would give their lives, but when the moment came, they could not match their words with action. God had been greatly estranged by empty talk and gestures without inner surrender. God heard everyone's lamentations, noting who wept and for what reason. They all went home: people, cattle, cowherds, mothers. Says Tuka, such was the state of the parents. In the end, the truth became clear.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Because of that feeling God drew away; doubt and fear entered their hearts. They had said before that they would give their lives, but when it came, they could not do as they had spoken. He drew far off; much was said in vain, talk without any giving up within. God heard the talk of all of them, who wept and in what spirit. They all went home, the cattle, the cowherds, the people, the mothers. Tuka says: such was the state the parents came to; in the end it became clear.
What it means
Tukaram names the gap between word and deed. They had vowed to give their lives for Hari, but at the brink they could not match the vow with action, and so God draws away and doubt fills them. He weighs not the loud talk but the inner giving, the tyaga, the surrender that was missing; lamenting without it is empty. The line points at our own pattern, the easy promise that collapses when it is tested. In the end the truth of where each one stood becomes plain, which is itself the deed's purpose, to reveal the real measure of their love.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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