Krishna is everything, total refuge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृष्ण माझी माता कृष्ण माझा पिता । बहिणी बंधु चुलता कृष्ण माझा ॥१॥
कृष्ण माझा गुरू कृष्ण माझें तारूं । उतरी पैल पारू भवनदीची ॥ध्रु.॥
कृष्ण माझें मन कृष्ण माझें जन । सोइरा सज्जन कृष्ण माझा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझा श्रीकृष्ण विसावा । वाटे न करावा परता जीवा ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Krishna is my mother, Krishna is my father; Krishna is my sister, brother, and uncle. Krishna is my guru, Krishna is my boat that ferries me across the river of worldly existence. Krishna is my mind, Krishna is my people; Krishna is my true friend and companion. Says Tuka, Sri Krishna is my rest and refuge; I never wish to turn my soul away from him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Krishna is my mother. Krishna is my father. Krishna is my sister, my brother, my uncle. Krishna is my guru. Krishna is my boat that carries me across the river of worldly life. Krishna is my mind. Krishna is my people. Krishna is my kinsman and my true friend. Tuka says: Sri Krishna is my rest and my refuge. I will never turn my soul away from him.
What it means
Tukaram takes every tie a person leans on, family, teacher, friends, his own mind, and assigns all of them to one name. This is not a list of things Krishna gives him; it is a replacement, where Krishna becomes each relation himself. The boat across the river of worldly existence names the stakes: the one who is mother and father is also the only crossing out of birth and death. Having gathered everything into Krishna, he refuses to take any of it back; the soul that has found its rest will not turn away again.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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