Autobiography, the true vow ripens
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
केल्यापुरती आळी । कांहीं होते टाळाटाळी ॥1॥
सत्यसंकल्पाचें फळ । होतां न दिसे चि बळ ॥ध्रु.॥
दळणांच्या ओव्या । रित्या खरें मापें घ्याव्या ॥2॥
जातीं उखळें चाटूं । तुका ह्मणे राज्य घाटूं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The excuses served their purpose for a while; there was some delay and avoidance. But when the fruit of a true resolution is ready, no force can hold it back. The grinding songs of women at the mill are empty; the true measure must be taken honestly. Says Tuka, even while licking the mortar, we scheme for a kingdom.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The excuses worked for a while; there was some putting off and dodging. But when the fruit of a true resolution is ready, no force can hold it back. The grinding songs sung at the mill are empty; let the true measure be taken honestly. Tuka says: even while licking the mortar, we scheme for a kingdom.
What it means
Tukaram looks back at his own delays and then at the moment they ended. The excuses and stalling served for a time, but a vow that is truly sincere ripens into a fruit that nothing can stop. He contrasts hollow, habitual piety, like songs hummed at the grinding mill, with an honest reckoning of what is real. The closing image of scheming for a kingdom while still scraping the empty mortar names the absurdity he sees in himself and others: grand spiritual ambition voiced from a place of nothing, until the resolve becomes true.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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