Longing, the ache of separation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कर कटावरी तुळसीच्या माळा । ऐसें रूप डोळां दावीं हरी ॥१॥
ठेविले चरण दोन्ही विटेवरी । ऐसें रूप हरी दावीं डोळां ॥ध्रु.॥
कटीं पीतांबर कास मिरवली । दाखवीं वहिली ऐसी मूर्ती ॥२॥
गरुडपारावरी उभा राहिलासी । आठवें मानसीं तें चि रूप ॥३॥
झुरोनी पांजरा होऊं पाहें आतां । येईं पंढरीनाथा भेटावया ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे माझी पुरवावी आस । विनंती उदास करूं नये ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hands resting on the waist, garlands of tulsi in hand: show me that form, O Hari. Both feet placed upon the brick: show that form to my eyes, O Hari. A yellow silk at the waist, its sash displayed in splendor: show me that image, and quickly. You stand at the Garuda pillar, and that very form dwells in my mind. I waste away, I become a cage of ribs from pining; come now, O Lord of Pandhari, come to meet me. Says Tuka, fulfill my longing; do not let this plea go desolate.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hands on your hips, tulsi garlands in hand: show me that form, Hari. Both feet set on the brick: show me that form. Yellow silk at the waist, the sash bright: show me that shape, and quickly. You stand by the Garuda pillar, and that form lives in my mind. I am wasting away. I am becoming a cage of ribs from missing you. Come, Lord of Pandhari, come and meet me. Tuka says: give me what I long for. Do not let this prayer go unanswered.
What it means
This is viraha, the ache of separation. Tukaram keeps asking to be shown the same form, over and over, the way someone in love keeps returning to the one thing they want. He already carries the image in his mind, and yet that is not enough; he wants the living presence. The middle of the poem turns physical: he is thinning to a cage of ribs with the wanting. This is not a calm meditation but a cry, and it ends as a plea: do not leave this asking empty.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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