Longing, settle Your own accounts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपुल्या आपण उगवा लिगाड । काय माझें जड करुन घ्याल ॥1॥
उधारासी काय उधाराचें काम । वाढवूं चि श्रम नये देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
करा आतां मजसाटीं वाड पोट । ठाव नाहीं तंटे जालें लोकीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बाकी झडलियावरी । न पडें वेव्हारीं संचिताचे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Settle Your own entanglements Yourself. Why would You make my burden heavier? Debt upon debt is no way to work; one should not keep multiplying labor, O God. Now make room for me in Your generous belly; there is no place left for disputes in this world. Says Tuka, once the account is cleared, I shall not fall back into the commerce of accumulated karma.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Untangle Your own knots Yourself. Why would You make my load heavier? Debt piled on debt is no way to do business; do not keep adding to the labor, O God. Now make room for me in Your wide belly; there is no place left in this world for these disputes. Tuka says: once the account is cleared, I will not fall back into the trade of accumulated karma.
What it means
Tukaram speaks to God in the blunt language of accounts and trade. He refuses to take on yet more burden and tells God to resolve the tangle Himself, since piling debt on debt settles nothing. He asks to be taken in completely, swallowed up where there is no more room for argument. The closing vow is the stake: once this account is finally cleared, he will never again enter the marketplace of karma, never start a fresh ledger of births and merits.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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