Devotion, the unsettled reckoning with God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं जालें मोल कळे देतां काळीं । कोण पाहों बळी दोघांमध्यें ॥1॥
आह्मी तरी जालों जीवासी उदार । कैंचा हा धीर तुजपाशीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु चाळविलें मागें आजिवरी । आतां पुढें हरि जाऊं नेदीं ॥2॥
नव्हती जों भेटी नामाची ओळखी । ह्मणऊनि दुःखी बहु जालें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे कांहीं राहों नेदीं बाकी । एकवेळा चुकी जाली आतां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The full price was never settled; let time reveal who is the stronger of the two. I, for my part, have been generous with my very life; where is that same boldness on Your side? You have strung me along for far too long up to this day; from now on, O Hari, I will not let You proceed unchallenged. Before the meeting came, before the bond of Your name was formed, much suffering was endured. Says Tuka, I will not let any debt remain now; the single error has already been made.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The full price was never settled. Let time show which of the two of us is stronger. I, at least, have been generous with my very life. Where is that boldness on Your side? You have strung me along all this time. From now on, Hari, I will not let You move past me. Before we met, before I knew Your name, I suffered much. Tuka says: I will not let any debt stand now. The one mistake has already been made.
What it means
Tukaram keeps up the lover's quarrel with God as if over an unpaid account. The price of his devotion was never settled, so let time reveal who is the stronger party; he has staked his very life, and he demands the same boldness back. He charges God with stringing him along for years, and resolves to block the way now and not be put off again. Behind the bravado is real pain: before he knew the Name he suffered greatly. He vows to leave no debt outstanding, treating the single error of his long delay as something now past, with only the reckoning ahead.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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