Krishna-lila, the greedy mind cannot steady
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भारवाही नोळखती या अनंता । जवळी असतां अंगसंगें ॥1॥
अंगसंगें तया न कळे हा देव । कळोनि संदेह मागुताला ॥2॥
मागुती पडती चिंतेचिये डोहीं । जयाची हे नाहीं बुिद्ध िस्थर ॥3॥
बुिद्ध िस्थर होउं नेदी नारायण । आशबद्ध जन लोभिकांची ॥4॥
लोभिकां न साहे देवाचें करणें । तुका ह्मणे तेणें दुःखी होती ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
They are burden-bearers who do not recognize this Infinite One, even though He walks beside them. Even in His intimate company, they do not see that He is God. Doubt returns again and again for those whose intellect is unsteady. Narayana does not let the intellect of the greedy become steady. The greedy cannot bear what God does. Says Tuka, that is why they remain in sorrow.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They are burden-bearers who do not know this Infinite One, though He is right beside them, touching them. Even in His close company they do not see that He is God. Doubt comes back to them again and again, for their intellect is not steady. Narayana does not let the intellect of the greedy grow steady. The greedy cannot bear what God does. Tuka says: that is why they stay in sorrow.
What it means
Tukaram pushes the previous abhanga deeper, into why some hearts cannot rest even when God is at arm's length. The trouble is greed, the grasping that keeps the mind unsettled and full of returning doubt. He makes the striking claim that Narayana Himself does not let the greedy mind become steady, because a mind clutching at gain cannot bear what God actually does, His rule-breaking, unpredictable play. The intimacy is real (He touches them) yet wasted on them. The lesson, aimed at self-examination, is that craving is what keeps God unrecognized at close range, and unrecognized presence leaves a person in sorrow.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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