Karma's crowded market, the bond that breaks
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भरला दिसे हाट । अवघी वाढली खटपट । संचिताचे वाट । वाटाऊनि फांकती ॥1॥
भोगा ऐसे ठायाठाव । कर्मा त्रिविधाचे भाव । द्रष्टा येथें देव । विरहित संकल्पा ॥ध्रु.॥
दिला पाडूनियां धडा । पापपुण्यांचा निवाडा । आचरती गोडा । आचरणें आपुलाल्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पराधीनें । जालीं ओढलिया ॠणें । तुटती बंधनें । जरि देवा आळविते ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The marketplace of life appears crowded, and complication has only increased. The roads of accumulated karma diverge and scatter in all directions. People experience their three kinds of karma according to their station. God alone is the witness here, free of all sankalpa. The account of merit and sin has been settled clearly. Each one follows their own sweet way of conduct. Says Tuka, those who are not their own masters are carried along by what has accumulated. The bonds will break only when God is called upon.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The market of life looks full, and the struggle has only grown. The roads of stored-up karma split and scatter every way. People taste their three kinds of karma, each by his station. God alone is the witness here, with no plan of his own. The account of sin and merit has been settled clearly. Each one walks his own sweet way of conduct. Tuka says: those who are not their own masters are dragged along by what they have piled up. The bonds break only when God is called.
What it means
Tukaram looks at human life as a busy marketplace where stored karma fans out into countless paths and pulls each person along. He insists no one is freely choosing: people merely undergo the fruit of past deeds according to their station, while God stands by as a witness who imposes nothing of his own. The ledger of sin and merit is already closed, so each follows his fixed way and calls it sweet. The stakes are bondage, and Tukaram names the one exit: the chains snap only when God is called upon, not by managing one's own accounts.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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