Bridal mysticism, gone mad for God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं काम माझें काज तुम्हांसवें । होतें गुप्त ठावें केलें आतां ॥१॥
व्यभिचार माझा पडिला ठाउका । न सर ती लोकांमाजी जालें ॥२॥
न धरावा लोभ कांहीं मजविशीं । जालें देवपिशी तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have no desire, no business left with you. What was hidden has now been made known. My adultery stands exposed. I have become worthless among people. Do not hold any greed toward me, says Tuka. I have gone mad for God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have nothing left to do with you. What was hidden is out in the open now. Everyone knows what I have done. Among people I am worth nothing anymore. So do not set your hopes on me. Tuka says: I have gone mad for God.
What it means
The secret love has become public, and Tukaram does not flinch. He addresses the world, the old life, and tells it plainly that the bond is finished and that he has no standing left to lose. Where the world sees ruin, a woman who has thrown her reputation away, he sees freedom: there is nothing left for anyone to bargain over. The last line names it without apology. What looks like madness from outside is, from inside, the whole point. He has been taken over by God.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →