Autobiography, the singer with no tricks
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कपट कांहीं एक । नेणें भुलवायाचें लोक ॥१॥
तुमचें करितों कीर्त्तन । गातों उत्तम ते गुण ॥ध्रु.॥
दाऊं नेणें जडीबुटी । चमत्कार उठाउठी ॥२॥
नाहीं शिष्यशाखा । सांगों अयाचित लोकां ॥३॥
नव्हें मठपति । नाहीं चाहुरांची वृत्ति ॥४॥
नाहीं देवार्चन । असे मांडिलें दुकान ॥५॥
नाहीं वेताळ प्रसन्न । कांहीं सांगों खाण खुण ॥६॥
नव्हें पुराणिक । करणें सांगणें आणीक ॥७॥
नेणें वाद घटा पटा । करितां पंडित करंटा ॥८॥
नाहीं जाळीत भणदीं । उदो म्हणोनि आनंदी ॥९॥
नाहीं हालवीत माळा । भोंवतें मेळवुनि गबाळा ॥१०॥
आगमीचें कुडें नेणें । स्तंभन मोहन उच्चाटणें ॥११॥
नव्हें यांच्या ऐसा । तुका निरयवासी पिसा ॥१२॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I know no deceit or trickery to delude people. I simply perform your kirtan and sing your excellent qualities. I cannot display herbs or roots or perform sudden miracles. I have no lineage of disciples; I speak freely to all who come. I am not the head of any monastery, nor do I live on the offerings of followers. I have not set up a shop of worship or a deity to collect revenue. I have no spirit or demon at my command to reveal secrets. I am not a professional reciter who says one thing and does another. I do not know the pot-and-cloth arguments that make a pedantic scholar into a pauper. I do not go about beating drums with crowds shouting praises. I do not turn a rosary surrounded by a throng of idle followers. I know nothing of tantric tricks, of binding, enchanting, or banishing. Says Tuka, I am none of these; I am just a hell-dwelling madman.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I know no cunning, no way to fool people. I only sing your kirtan and praise your good qualities. I cannot show off herbs and roots or work sudden miracles. I have no line of disciples; I speak freely to whoever comes. I am no head of a monastery, and I do not live off followers' offerings. I have set up no shop of worship, no deity to bring in money. I have no spirit at my command to reveal hidden things. I am no professional reciter who says one thing and does another. I do not know the pot-and-cloth wrangling that turns a scholar into a pauper. I do not march about beating drums in a shouting crowd. I do not rattle a rosary surrounded by a throng of idlers. I know nothing of the false arts of binding, enchanting, driving away. Tuka says: I am none of these. I am only a hell-dwelling madman.
What it means
Tukaram defines himself entirely by what he is not. One by one he strikes off the roles a holy man could exploit: the miracle-monger, the guru with a captive following, the abbot living on offerings, the priest running worship as a business, the spirit-conjurer, the hypocrite reciter, the showy debater, the drum-beating crowd-leader, the tantric trickster. Each of these is a way religion can be turned into power or income, and he refuses every one. All he claims is to sing God's praises and speak openly to anyone. The closing self-mockery, calling himself a hell-dwelling madman, is honest humility set against the proud pretenders he has just listed; it invites the listener to weigh real devotion against religious performance.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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