Longing, watching the road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाटुली पाहातां सिणले डोळुले । दाविसी पाउलें कइं वो डोळां ॥1॥
तूं माय माउली कृपेची साउली । विठ्ठले पाहिली वास तुझी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझ्या असांवल्या बाहएा । तुज क्षेम द्याया पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My eyes are weary from watching the road. When will You show Your feet to my gaze? You are the mother, the nurturing shade of mercy. O Vitthal, I have waited long for You. Says Tuka, my arms reach out, longing to embrace You, O Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My eyes are tired from watching the road. When will You show Your feet to my eyes? You are the mother, the nursing shade of mercy. O Vitthal, long have I waited for You. Tuka says: my arms reach out to embrace You, Panduranga.
What it means
This is the cry of one who waits and aches for the sight of God. Tukaram has worn his eyes out staring down the road for Vitthal's coming and asks how much longer until those feet appear. He calls God his mother, the cool shade of mercy that shelters a child, naming the tenderness he is starving for. The poem ends in pure bodily longing: his arms are already open, reaching out to hold Panduranga close.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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