Lowliness, the outcaste before the brahmin
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
2872. परतें मी आहें सहज चि दुरी । वेगळें भिकारी नामरूपा ॥1॥
न लगे रुसावें धरावा संकोच । सहज तें नीच आलें भागा ॥ध्रु.॥
पडिलिये ठायीं उिच्छष्ट सेवावें । आरते तें चि देवें केलें ऐसें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी आह्मां जी वेगळे । केलेती निराळे द्विज देवें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I stand apart by nature, inherently distant, separate from name and form, a beggar. You need not feel offended or hold back; what is lowly has naturally come to my lot. I eat leftovers wherever they fall; God Himself has arranged it so. Says Tuka, you are set apart from us. The Lord has created you as the twice-born, distinct from us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I stand apart, far off by my nature, a beggar separate from name and form. You need not feel offended or hold back. What is low has fallen to me naturally. I eat the leftovers wherever they fall. God Himself has arranged it so. Tuka says: you are set apart from us. God made you the twice-born, different from us.
What it means
Tukaram speaks to brahmins from inside the place society has assigned him, owning his low station rather than disputing it. He calls himself a beggar set apart, by nature distant, even from name and form, and tells them not to take offense at his company because lowliness fell to him on its own. He notes that he lives on leftovers and frames even this as God's own arrangement of the order of things. The closing line, naming the brahmin as the twice-born whom God set apart, carries a quiet edge: it lays the whole caste division at God's feet and asks who really drew that line, turning the listener back to examine the boundary they take for granted.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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