Krishna-lila, the mother's grief and the omen
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जननी हे ह्मणे आहा काय जालें । शरीर रिक्षलें काय काजें ॥1॥
काय काज आतां हरिविण जिणें । नित्य दुःख कोणें सोसावें हें ॥2॥
हें दुःख न सरे हरि न भेटे तों । त्यामागें चि जातों एका वेळे ॥3॥
एकवेळ जरी देखतें मी आतां । तरी जीवापरता न करितें ॥4॥
करितां हे मात हरीचें चिंतन । शुभ तो शकुन तुका ह्मणे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The mother says, 'Oh, what has happened? My body has wasted away. What is the use of living without Hari? Who can endure this constant sorrow?' 'This grief will not end until Hari is found. I will follow Him at once.' 'If only I could see Him one more time, I would never let Him go.' While she spoke these words, remembering Hari, says Tuka, a good omen appeared.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The mother says: oh, what has happened? My body has wasted away. What was the use of keeping it? What is the use of living now, without Hari? Who can bear this endless sorrow? This grief will not end until Hari is found. I will go straight after Him, this very time. If I could see Him just once now, I would never let Him leave my life again. While she said these words, her thought was on Hari. Tuka says: that was a good omen.
What it means
This is the cry of a mother (the longing devotee in a mother's voice) who feels she cannot live another moment without the Lord. Tukaram lets the grief run all the way to its edge, even to the wish to follow Him into death, and does not soften it. Then he turns it: the very fact that, in her sorrow, her whole mind has fastened on Hari is itself the good sign. The point is that longing fixed entirely on God is not a dead end but the doorway; remembrance born of separation is auspicious, because the heart that can think only of Him is already near Him.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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