Longing, the silence of God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां हो देवा कांहीं न बोला चि गोष्टी । कां मज हिंपुटी करीतसा ॥१॥
कंठीं प्राण पाहें वचनाची आस । तों दिसे उदास धरिलें ऐसें ॥ध्रु.॥
येणें काळें बुंथी घेतलीसे खोल । कां नये विटाळ होऊं माझा ॥२॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why, O God, do you not speak a single word to me? Why do you treat me with such contempt? My life hangs in my throat as I wait for a word from you, yet you appear utterly indifferent. You have wrapped yourself up tightly in this dark blanket of silence. Is it that you cannot bear the taint of my presence?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why, O God, do you not say a single word to me? Why do you treat me with such scorn? My life hangs in my throat as I wait for your word, and you look on as though you do not care. You have pulled the dark blanket of your silence tight over yourself. Is it that you cannot bear the stain of my touch?
What it means
Tukaram is in the worst part of waiting: the silence. God will not even speak, and the silence reads to him as contempt. His life feels lodged in his throat, ready to leave, while God seems wrapped up and indifferent under a dark covering. In his pain he names the fear underneath the longing: maybe God stays silent because he, Tukaram, is too impure to be touched. The abhanga does not resolve this; it leaves the devotee held in the unanswered question, which is itself the heart of the longing.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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