Distress and urgency, robbed in broad daylight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न पवे सन्निध वाटते चिंता । वरि या बहुतांची सत्ता । नुगवे पडत जातो गुंता । कर्मा बिळवंता सांपडलों ॥1॥
बहु भार पडियेला शिरीं । मी हें माझें मजवरी । उघडएा नागविलों चोरीं । घरिच्याघरीं जाणजाणतां ॥ध्रु.॥
तुज मागणें इतुलें आतां । मज या निरवावें संतां । जाला कंठस्फोट आळवितां । उदास आतां न करावें ॥2॥
अति हा निकट समय । मग म्यां करावें तें काय । दिवस गेलिया टाकईल छाय । उरईल हाय रातिकाळीं ॥3॥
होईल संचिताची सत्ता। अंगा येईल पराधीनता । ठाव तो न दिसे लपतां। बहुत चिंता प्रवर्तली ॥4॥
ऐसी या संकटाची संधी । धांव घालावी कृपानिधी । तुका ह्मणे माझी बळबुद्धी । सकळ सिद्धी पाय तुझे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I feel anxious because You are not near, and on top of that the authority of so many worldly powers presses down. I cannot untangle myself; the knot only tightens. I am caught in the grip of powerful karma. A great burden has fallen upon my head, this sense of "I" and "mine." I have been robbed in broad daylight, plundered in my own home while fully aware. I ask You only this much now: entrust me to the saints. My throat is hoarse from calling out to You; do not be indifferent any longer. The hour is desperately close. What shall I do then? Once the day has passed, the shadow will be cast aside, and only regret will remain in the night. The force of accumulated destiny will take hold, and dependence will grip my body. No hiding place is visible, and great anxiety has set in. Says Tuka, in this perilous juncture, rush to me, O treasury of mercy. My strength and wisdom, all my accomplishments, are Your feet alone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am anxious because you are not near me, and on top of that the power of many worldly things presses down on me. I cannot get free; the knot only tightens as I fall. I have been caught by mighty karma. A heavy load has fallen on my head, this "I" and this "mine." I have been robbed in broad daylight, plundered inside my own house while I watched and knew. I ask you only this much now: hand me over to the saints. My throat is hoarse from calling you; do not be cold to me any longer. The hour is dangerously close. What am I to do then? Once the day is gone, the shade will be thrown off, and only regret will be left in the night. The force of my past deeds will take hold; helplessness will grip my body. I see no place to hide, and great fear has set in. Tuka says: in this tight corner, come running, treasury of mercy. My strength, my wits, all my success, are your feet alone.
What it means
Tukaram cries out from a sense of siege, hemmed in by worldly powers and by the tightening knot of his own past actions. His sharpest image is the daylight robbery: he watches his own "I" and "mine" plunder him inside his own house, fully aware and still unable to stop it. The urgency is about time, the hour is desperately near, and once the daylight is gone there will be nothing left but regret and the grip of destiny in the dark. His one request is humble and specific: hand me over to the saints. He ends by locating all his strength and success not in himself but only at God's feet, and begs the merciful one to rush in before it is too late.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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