Krishna-lila, the feast belongs to the trusting
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भाग त्या सुखाचे वांकडएां बोबडएां । आपलिया गडएां भाविकांसि ॥1॥
भारवाही गेले टाकुनि कावडी । नवनीतगोडी भाविकांसि ॥2॥
काला करूनियां वांटिलां सकळां । आनंदें गोपाळांमाजी खेळे ॥3॥
खेळेंमेळें दहीं दुध तूप खाती । भय नाहीं चित्तीं कवणाचें ॥4॥
कवणाचें चाले तुका ह्मणे बळ । जयासी गोपाळ साहए जाला ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The share of that joy belongs to the stammering, the lisping, the simple, and the faithful. The burden-bearers who left their baskets behind missed out. The faithful cowherds feasted on the butter's sweetness. He prepared the feast and distributed it among all. He played joyfully among the cowherds. They ate curds, milk, and ghee without a care. No one's chitta held any fear. Says Tuka, whose strength can prevail when the Cowherd-Boy is your ally?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
That share of joy belongs to the stammering, the lisping, the simple, His own faithful playmates. The burden-bearers who left their baskets behind lost it. He made the feast and shared it out among them all. He played joyfully among the cowherd boys. In play and company they ate curds and milk and ghee. In their hearts there was no fear of anyone. Tuka says: whose strength can prevail, when the Cowherd-Boy himself is your ally?
What it means
Set against the angry ones who refused, this abhanga gives the feast to the simple and trusting playmates, the stammering and the lisping, the ones with no cleverness and no suspicion. Their reward is exactly what the proud and fearful forfeited: they eat freely, with no fear of anyone in their hearts. Tukaram draws the line between the two kinds of devotee not by knowledge or status but by trust. The closing question carries the whole assurance: when the Cowherd-Boy himself stands with you, no power anywhere can prevail against you, so fear in His company was always misplaced.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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