Holy complaint, why the division
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वेदपुरुष तरि नेती कां वचन । निवडूनि भिन्न दाखविलें ॥1॥
तुझीं वर्में तूं चि दावूनि अनंता । होतोसी नेणता कोण्या गुणें ॥ध्रु.॥
यज्ञाचा भोक्ता तरि कां नव्हे सांग । उणें पडतां अंग क्षोभ घडे ॥2॥
वससी तूं या भूतांचे अंतरीं । तरि कां भेद हरी दावियेला ॥3॥
तपतिर्थाटणें तुझे मूतिनदान । तरि कां अभिमान आड येतो ॥4॥
आतां क्षमा कीजे विनवितो तुका । देऊनियां हाका उभा द्वारीं ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If the Vedas are the Purusha, why did speech divide and distinguish things, setting them apart as different? You Yourself revealed Your own secrets, O Ananta, yet by what quality do You now act as though unknowing? If You are the enjoyer of sacrifice, tell me why: when offerings fall short, why does perturbation arise in You? You dwell within all these beings, O Hari, yet why have You shown division? If austerities, pilgrimages, and offerings of Your own image all exist, why does pride still stand in the way? Says Tuka, I am standing at Your door, calling out to You. Please forgive me now.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If the Vedas are the Purusha, why did speech divide things and set them apart as different? You revealed Your own secrets, O Ananta. By what quality do You now act as if You do not know? If You are the enjoyer of sacrifice, tell me: when the offering falls short, why does anger rise in You? You live inside all these beings, O Hari. Then why have You shown division? If austerities and pilgrimages and offerings of Your own image are all real, why does pride still stand in the way? Tuka says: I am standing at Your door, calling out to You. Forgive me now.
What it means
Tukaram turns prayer into honest argument, pressing God with the contradictions God seems to permit. If scripture is one with the Purusha, why does its speech keep dividing reality into separate things; if Hari truly dwells inside every being, why has He let division appear at all? He even points at God's apparent moods: a Lord who claims to enjoy sacrifice yet is perturbed when offerings fall short, and a path of austerity and pilgrimage that still leaves pride in the way. The questions are not mockery but a lover's complaint, and Tukaram ends by dropping the case: he is simply standing at the door, calling out, asking to be forgiven.
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