The farm of the Name, a free harvest
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सेत करा रे फुकाचें । नाम विठोबारायाचें ॥1॥
नाहीं वेठी जेवा सारा । जाहाती नाहीं ह्मणियारा ।
सरिक नाहीं रे दुसरा । धनी सारा तुझा तूं ॥ध्रु.॥
जपतप नांगरणी । न लगे आटी दुनवणी ॥2॥
कर्म कुळवणी ॥ न लगे धर्मपाळी दोन्ही ॥3॥
ज्ञानपाभारी ती फणी । न लगे करावी पेरणी ॥4॥
बीज न लगे संचिताचें । पीक पिकलें ठायींचे ॥5॥
नाहीं यमाचें चोरटें । विठ्ठल पागोयाच्या नेटें ॥6॥
पीक न वजे हा भरवसा । करी उद्वेग तो पिसा ॥7॥
सराये सर्व काळ । वांयां न वजे घटिकापळ ॥8॥
प्रेम पिकलें अपार । नाहीं सांटवावया थार ॥9॥
ऐसीये जोडी जो चुकला । तुका ह्मणे धिग त्याला ॥10॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Cultivate this free field: the Name of Vithoba. There is no forced labor, no tax to pay, no intermediary to satisfy. There is no rival; you yourself are the sole owner. No plowing of austerity or penance is needed, no toilsome double-tilling. No cultivation of ritual action is required, nor the upkeep of religious duty. No sowing of the seed of accumulated karma is necessary; the crop ripens in its own place. There is no fear of the thief called death, for Vitthal's watchman stands guard. The crop never fails; only a fool would worry. It yields at all times; not a moment goes to waste. Love has ripened beyond measure; there is no barn large enough to store it. Says Tuka, shame upon the one who misses such a harvest.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Plough this field that costs nothing: the Name of Vithoba. There is no forced labor, no tax, no overseer to please. There is no co-owner; you alone are the master. No ploughing of austerity, no toil of double tilling. No tilling of ritual works, no upkeep of the two religious duties. No need for the harrow of knowledge, no sowing to be done. No seed of stored-up karma is needed; the crop ripens of itself in its place. There is no thief named death here, for Vitthal's watchman stands guard. The crop never fails, be sure of it; only a madman frets. It yields at all times; not a moment is wasted. Love has ripened beyond measure; there is no barn big enough to store it. Tuka says: shame on the one who misses such a gain.
What it means
Tukaram builds an extended parable of farming to show how unlike all other paths the Name is. Ordinary spiritual work is laid out as the labor of a farm, ploughing, tilling, sowing, watching, paying dues, but the field of Vithoba's Name asks none of it: no austerity, no ritual, no accumulated karma to plant, and no landlord or tax over you, for you alone own it. Best of all, death, the thief who robs every other harvest, cannot enter, because Vitthal himself sets a guard. The crop here is not grain but love, and it ripens so abundantly that no storehouse can hold it. Against such a free and certain harvest, he says, only a fool would worry, and shame falls on anyone who lets it slip.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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