Remembrance fills, rain stops unnoticed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं नाश हरि आठवितां मुखें । जोडतील सुखें सकळ ही ॥1॥
सकळी ही सुखें वोळलीं अंतरीं । मग त्याबाहेरी काय काज ॥2॥
येऊं विसरलीं बाहेरी गोपाळें । तल्लीन सकळें कृष्णसुखें ॥3॥
सुख तें योगियां नाहीं समाधीस । दिलें गाई वत्स पशु जीवां ॥4॥
वारला पाऊस केव्हां नाहीं ठावा । तुका ह्मणे देवावांचूनियां ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is no decay when Hari is remembered with the lips. All joys come flooding in. When all joys have gathered within, what need is there for anything outside? The cowherds forgot to go outside, absorbed entirely in the bliss of Krishna. The bliss that yogis cannot find even in deep samadhi was given to cows, calves, and all creatures. Says Tuka, when the rain stopped, no one knew, except God Himself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is no decay when Hari is remembered with the lips; every joy will be gained. When all joys have gathered within, what work is left outside? The cowherds forgot to step outside, wholly sunk in the joy of Krishna. The joy that yogis do not find even in their deepest samadhi was given here to cows, calves, and all the creatures. When the rain stopped, no one knew. Tuka says: no one but God himself.
What it means
The poem holds two things side by side. First, simply remembering Hari with the lips brings every joy and nothing fades, so that once joy gathers within there is no reason to look outside. Second, and more startling, the bliss that yogis cannot reach even in deep samadhi was here handed freely to ordinary cows and calves. Tukaram lets the contrast make his point: grace does not wait on spiritual achievement. They were so absorbed that the rain ended without anyone noticing, no one but God, who had ordered the whole thing.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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