Insistent pleading, a beggar's standoff
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न बोलसी तें ही कळलें देवा । लाजसी आपुलिया नांवा। तुज मी नाहीं घालीत गोवा । भीड केशवा कासयाची ॥1॥
उतरीं आपुला हा पार । मजशीं बोलोनि उत्तर । माझा तुज नव्हे अंगीकार । मग विचार करीन मी ॥2॥
दात्या आणि मागत्यासी । धर्मनीति तरी बोलिली ऐसी । यथानशक्ति टाकेल तैसी । बाधी दोघांसी विन्मुखता ॥3॥
ह्मणोनि करितों मी आस । तुझिया वचनाची वास । धीर हा करूनि सायास । न टळें नेमास आपुलिया ॥4॥
तुझें म्यां घेतल्या वांचून । न वजें एथूनि वचन । हा चि माझा नेम सत्य जाण । आहे नाहीं ह्मणे तुका ह्मणे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even what You do not speak, I understand, O God. You feel shame on account of Your own reputation. I am not putting You in any difficulty; what hesitation can there be, O Keshava? Settle this matter and give me a clear answer. If You will not accept me, tell me plainly, and then I will decide what to do. The law of giving speaks thus between giver and beggar: whatever one can, one should give; refusal harms both parties. Therefore I persist in hope, waiting for Your word. With great effort I hold firm and will not abandon my resolve. Until I receive what is Yours to give, I will not leave this place. This is my true vow. Says Tuka, say whether it shall be or not.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even the things you do not say, I have understood, O God. You feel shame for your own name. I am not trying to trap you; what need is there for shyness, Keshava? Carry this through to the end. Speak to me, give me your answer. If you will not take me as your own, say so, and then I will decide what to do. The law of giving speaks like this between a giver and a beggar: give what you can; to turn away harms both of you. So I keep on hoping, waiting for your word. I steady myself with great effort, and I will not let go of my vow. Without taking what is yours to give, I will not move from here. Know this is my true vow. Tuka says: tell me, will it be, or not?
What it means
Tukaram has cornered God like a beggar who will not leave the door. He claims he can already read the silence: God hangs back out of concern for his own reputation as the savior of the lowly, and Tukaram presses exactly there. He invokes the plain ethic between a giver and one who asks: a refusal shames both parties, so God cannot afford to send him away. The vow is a sit-in. He will not move, will not abandon hope, until he receives what is God's to give, and he demands a clear yes or no rather than more silence.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →