Autobiography, the vow to lay down the pen
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां नेम जाला । या च कळसीं विठ्ठला ॥1॥
हातीं न धरीं लेखणी । काय भुसकट ते वाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणें तेणें काळ । उरला सारीन सकळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे घाटी । चाटू कोरडा शेवटीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now the vow is made, O Vitthal, and this is its culmination. I will not take up the pen again; what use is this chaff of speech? However the remaining time goes, I shall pass it all in that manner. Says Tuka, at the very end, one is left licking a dry ladle.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now the vow is made, O Vitthal, and this is where it comes to its peak. I will not pick up the pen again. What use is this chaff of speech? However the time that is left goes, I will pass all of it that way. Tuka says: at the very end, one is left licking a dry ladle.
What it means
Tukaram declares a vow to Vitthal: to set down his pen and write no more, calling his own speech empty chaff. Whatever days remain to him, he intends to spend them in that silence rather than in words he no longer trusts. The final image, of being left licking a dry ladle at the end, names the emptiness he fears: effort that yields nothing to taste. The verse marks a turning point where the poet renounces even his poetry, waiting for what is real.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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