Longing, the soul gone ahead to the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दर्शनाची आस । आतां ना साहे उदास ॥1॥
जीव आला पायांपाशीं । येथें असें कलिवरेंसीं ॥ध्रु.॥
कांहीं च नाठवे । ठायीं बैसलें नुठवे ॥2॥
जीव असतां पाहीं । तुका ठकावला ठायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The longing for darshan can no longer endure this separation. My soul has already gone to Your feet; only this body remains here. Nothing else is remembered; what has settled in its place will not be dislodged. Says Tuka, while the soul still lingers, it has been arrested right where it stands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The longing for darshan can bear this no more. The sadness is too much now. My soul has already gone to your feet. Only this body stays here. Nothing else comes to mind. What has settled in that place will not be moved. Tuka says: while the soul still lingers there, Tuka stands here, arrested where he is.
What it means
Tukaram describes a longing for the sight of God that has reached its limit and can no longer endure the separation. He feels his very soul has already traveled ahead to God's feet, leaving only his body behind. With the soul fixed there, nothing else can enter his attention; what has lodged at the feet cannot be dislodged. The result is a man held in place, stopped and unable to move, because the deepest part of him is already gone where he wants to be.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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