Longing, shamed in the rich one's house
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
समर्थाचे पोटीं । आह्मी जन्मलों करंटीं ॥1॥
ऐसी जाली जगीं कीतिन । तुझ्या नामाची फजिती ॥ध्रु.॥
येथें नाहीं खाया। न ये कोणी मूळ न्याया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जिणें । आतां खोटें जीवपणें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Born in the house of the Capable One, we turned out wretched. Such is the fame that has spread in the world: Your name has been disgraced. There is nothing to eat here; no one comes even to inquire. Says Tuka, living itself has become false and shameful.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Born in the house of the Almighty, we turned out wretched. This is the report that has spread through the world: your name has been disgraced. There is nothing here to eat; no one even comes to ask after us. Tuka says: living like this has become a false, shameful thing.
What it means
Tukaram presses the family quarrel into the open: children of the all-powerful Lord, yet left destitute, a scandal that shames not them but God's own name. If the master's house keeps its dependents starving and unvisited, the disgrace falls on the master. He says there is nothing to eat and no one comes to inquire, the picture of utter neglect. So even being alive has become false and shameful, because such a life dishonors the one who is supposed to provide. The complaint is a way of holding God to his own reputation as the Capable One.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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