Autobiography, the calling to fight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धर्माचे पाळण । करणें पाषांड खंडण ॥1॥
हें चि आह्मां करणें काम । बीज वाढवावें नाम ॥ध्रु.॥
तीक्षण उत्तरें । हातीं घेउनि बाण फिरें ॥2॥
नाहीं भीड भार । तुका ह्मणे साना थोर॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To protect dharma and to destroy hypocrisy: this is our appointed task. The work given to us is to nurture and spread the name. Sharp words are the arrows we take in hand. Says Tuka, we show no deference to rank, whether small or great.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To guard dharma and to break down hypocrisy: this is our work. This is the task given to us, to make the seed of the Name grow. Sharp words are the arrows; I take them in hand and go about. Tuka says: I show no deference, fear no one's weight, small or great.
What it means
Tukaram states his calling as a kind of warfare with words. The double charge is plain: protect true religion and tear down false show, and spread the Name like a seed made to grow. His weapons are not violence but sharp speech, arrows he carries openly into the fight. He refuses the usual restraint that lets rank or reputation buy silence; he will not flatter the great or spare the powerful when they are hollow. The harshness is pointed at hypocrisy itself, not at persons for their own sake, and the whole aim of the fighting is the same single thing: to let the Name take root and grow.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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