Autobiography, fault-finding pandits
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मोहरोनी चित्ता । आणूं हळूं चि वरि हिता ॥1॥
तों हे पडती आघात । खोडी काढिती पंडित ॥ध्रु.॥
संवसारा भेणें । कांहीं उसंती तों पेणें ॥2॥
एखादिया भावें । तुका ह्मणे जवळी यावें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Slowly winning the mind's trust, I try to draw it toward what is good. But then obstacles arise; the pandits find fault and attack. Afraid of worldly life, I seek even a brief refuge and shelter. Says Tuka, by some means or another, one must come near to God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Turning the mind toward me, I try slowly to draw it up toward what is good. But then the blows fall; the pandits hunt out faults and attack. Afraid of worldly life, I look for even a little rest, a place to halt. Tuka says: by some feeling or other, one must come close to God.
What it means
Tukaram describes the patient inner work of devotion and the opposition it meets from the learned. Gently, a little at a time, he tries to coax the mind toward its own good, but the pandits seize on every fault and strike at the effort. He is not fighting them; he is afraid of worldly life and only wants a small place to rest, a shelter on the road. The poem ends with the simple counsel that survives all the fault-finding: by whatever feeling a person can manage, the one thing needful is to come near to God. Scholarship can attack the method; it cannot replace the nearness.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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