Autobiography, plea for forgiveness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बोलिलों जैसें बोलविलें देवें । माझें तुम्हां ठावें जातिकुळ ॥1॥
करा क्षमा कांहीं नका धरूं कोप । संत मायबाप दीनावरि ॥ध्रु.॥
वाचेचा चाळक जाला दावी वर्म । उचित ते धर्म मजपुढें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे घडे अपराध नेणतां । द्यावा मज आतां ठाव पायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have spoken as God moved me to speak; you know my caste and lineage. Forgive me; do not hold anger in your minds. Saints are like parents to the helpless. The one who animates my tongue has shown me the truth; this is the proper dharma before me. Says Tuka, offenses happen unknowingly; grant me a place at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I spoke only as God moved me to speak. You know my caste and my family. Forgive me, do not hold anger against me. The saints are mother and father to the lowly. The one who moves my tongue has shown me the truth. This is the right path set before me. Tuka says: offenses happen without my knowing. Now give me a place at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram steps forward as himself, low-born and aware that his listeners know it, and asks not to be judged for it. He insists his words are not his own boast but God speaking through him, so any fault in them is honest, not arrogant. He leans on the saints as parents who shelter the helpless, and on the one who animates his tongue as the source of whatever truth he has shown. The poem closes as a plain plea: errors slip out unknowingly, so grant me, anyway, a place at your feet.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
More in this theme →