Krishna-lila, the world resumes its pull
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नारायण आले निजमंदिरासि । जाले या लोकांसि बहुडविते ॥1॥
बहुडविले बहु केलें समाधान । विसरु तो क्षण नका माझा ॥2॥
मात सांगितली सकळ वृत्तांत । केलें दंडवत सकळांनीं ॥3॥
सकळां भातुकें वांटिल्या साखरा । आपलाल्या घरा लोक गेले ॥4॥
लोक गेले कामा गाईपें गोपाळ । वारली सकळ लोभापाठी ॥5॥
लोभ दावुनियां आपला विसर । पाडितो कुमर धनआशा ॥6॥
आशेचे बांधले तुका ह्मणे जन । काय नारायण ऐसा जाणे ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Narayana returned to His own home, bidding farewell to all the people. He comforted them and said, 'Do not forget Me, not even for a moment.' He told them everything that had happened. Everyone bowed in reverence. Sweets and treats were distributed to all. The people went to their homes. The people went about their work, the cowherds to their cattle. The lure of worldly life resumed its pull. Showing the bait of desire and then vanishing from sight, youth and hope for wealth lead everyone astray. Says Tuka, the people are bound by hope. What does Narayana know of such bondage?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Narayana came back to His own home. He took His leave of all those people. He comforted them and said: do not forget Me, not even for a moment. He told them everything that had happened. They all bowed low before Him. Sweets and treats were shared out to everyone. The people went off to their own homes. They went back to their work, the cowherds to their cattle. The old grip of worldly life took hold again. Showing the bait of desire and then slipping out of sight, the longing for sons and the hope of wealth lead people astray. Tuka says: people are bound by hope. What does Narayana know of such bondage?
What it means
The festival ends, Krishna goes home, and ordinary life closes back over the villagers like water. Tukaram names the mechanism by which it happens: desire is a bait that is shown and then withdrawn, and the cravings for children and for wealth quietly pull a heart away from the God it had just held. The hook is hope itself, the endless leaning toward a next thing. The closing question is the sharp point: people are bound by this, but Narayana is not, He has no part in such bondage. The line invites self-examination, not contempt, asking the listener to notice the bait still working in their own life even after the vision has passed.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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