Bold complaint, demanding release from rebirth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उपजों मरों हे तों आमुची मिरासी । हें तूं निवारिसी तरी थोर ॥1॥
उभा राहीं करीं खरा खोटा वाद । आह्मी जालों निंद लंडीपणें ॥ध्रु.॥
उभयतां आहे करणें समान । तुह्मां ऐसा ह्मणें मी ही देवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हातीं सांपडलें वर्म । अवघाची भ्रम फेडिन आतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Birth and death are our rightful inheritance. If You can put a stop to this, that alone would be great. Stand firm and let us have a fair debate; I have grown weary of this cowardly existence. Both of us have equal work to do; I say I am as much God as You are. Says Tuka, the secret is now in my hands; I shall dispel all illusion from this point forward.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To be born and to die is our family inheritance. If you can put a stop to this, that would be a great thing. Stand up and let us have it out, true against false. I am worn down by this cowardly life. The work falls equally on both of us. I say to you, God, that I am as much as you are. Tuka says: the secret is now in my hand. From here I will clear away every illusion.
What it means
Tukaram turns prayer into a bold demand: birth and death are the inheritance he was handed, and he challenges God to be great enough to end the cycle for him. He summons God to an open argument, true against false, because he is exhausted by a life he calls cowardly. Then he says the audacious thing, that the work is shared equally and that he stands as much as God stands, refusing the posture of a beggar. He does not retract it; instead he claims the secret is now in his own hand, and from here he means to dispel every illusion. The heat is the point: a devotee close enough to argue as an equal, not bow at a distance.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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