Bold longing, settling accounts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपुलें मागतां । काय नाहीं आह्मां सत्ता ॥1॥
परि या लौकिकाकारणें । उरीं ठेविली बोलणें ॥ध्रु.॥
ये चि आतां घडी । करूं बैसों ते ची फडी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे करितों तुला । ठाव नाहींसें विठ्ठला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When asking for what is rightfully ours, do we not have the authority? But for the sake of propriety, I have kept my words measured. At this very moment, let us settle accounts. Says Tuka, I will leave You nowhere to hide, O Vitthal.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When I ask for what is my own, do I have no right to it? But for the sake of how things look, I have held my words back. Right now, this very moment, let us sit and settle the matter. Tuka says: I will leave You nowhere to hide, O Vitthal.
What it means
Tukaram presses his claim on God with the confidence of a man asking for what is rightfully his, not begging for a favor. He admits he has kept his demand polite only out of decorum, but now he drops the pretense and calls for an immediate reckoning. The tone is loving boldness, not arrogance: a devotee so sure of his bond that he can corner the Lord. The last line says it plainly: O Vitthal, I will give You no place to slip away; settle Your account with me now.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →