Turning, the waking from worldly sleep
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मां अराणूक संवसारा हातीं । पडिली नव्हती आजिवरी ॥1॥
पुत्रदाराधन होता मनी धंदा । गोवियेलों सदा होतों कामें ॥ध्रु.॥
वोडवलें ऐसें दिसतें कपाळ । राहिलें सकळ आवरोनि॥2॥
मागें पुढें कांहीं न दिसे पाहातां । तेथूनियां चिंता उपजली ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे वाट पाह्याचें कारण । येथीचिया हिंणें जालें भाग्य ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Until now, worldly life never gave us rest. The mind was always occupied with wife, children, and wealth; we were constantly entangled in affairs. Fate has unfolded in such a way that everything has come to a halt. Looking ahead and behind, nothing is visible, and from that emptiness, anxiety has been born. Says Tuka, the reason I keep watching the road is that through worldly misfortune, my true fortune has dawned.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Until now worldly life never let me rest. My mind was always busy with wife, children, and wealth; I was caught in its work day after day. But fate has turned, and everything has come to a halt. I look ahead and behind, and I see nothing. Out of that emptiness, anxiety is born. Tuka says: this is why I keep watching the road. Through this worldly misfortune, my true fortune has dawned.
What it means
Tukaram looks back on a whole life swallowed by the household: wife, children, money, an endless press of business that never let the mind stop. Then something breaks the spell. His fortunes collapse, and suddenly the road ahead and the road behind both show nothing to hold on to. That emptiness first arrives as dread; nothing is left to grip. But he reads it the other way: the loss of worldly footing is what frees him to watch the road for God, and so the very misfortune becomes the dawning of his real fortune.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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