Humility, the laborer of Vithoba
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हती माझे बोल जाणां हा निर्धार । मी आहें मजूर विठोबाचा ॥1॥
निर्धारा वचन सोडविलें माझ्या । कृपाळुवें लज्जा राखियेली ॥ध्रु.॥
आतां भय माझें नासलें संसारीं । जालोंसें यावरी गगनाचा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हा तों संतांचा प्रसाद । लाधलों आनंद प्रेमसुख ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
These are not my own words; know this for certain. I am but a laborer of Vithoba. The compassionate One has released the words through my mouth; He has preserved my honor. Now my fear in this world has been destroyed; I have become as boundless as the sky. Says Tuka, this is the grace of the saints; through them I have attained the bliss of divine love.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
These are not my words; know this for certain. I am only a laborer of Vithoba. He set the words loose through my mouth; the merciful One has guarded my honor. Now my fear of this world is destroyed; I have become as wide as the sky. Tuka says: this is the grace of the saints; I have come into the bliss, the joy of love.
What it means
Tukaram refuses any credit for his songs. He calls himself a hired hand of Vithoba, and says the words were released through his mouth by God, not made by him. Because the work was never his own, his honor rests in God's keeping rather than in his own standing. From that surrender comes freedom: his worldly fear is gone and he feels as boundless as the sky. He traces the whole gift back to the grace of the saints, through whom he has reached the bliss of divine love.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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