Autobiography, the watchman of souls
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपुलिया काजा । आह्मीं सांडियेलें लाजा ॥1॥
तुह्मां असों जागवीत । आपुलें आपुले हित ॥ध्रु.॥
तुह्मी देहशून्य। आह्मां कळे पाप पुण्य ॥2॥
सांगायासी लोकां । उरउरीत उरला तुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
For my own sake, I have cast aside all shame. I remain only to keep you awake to your own welfare. You are oblivious to the body's transience; I am the one who recognizes merit and sin. Says Tuka, I have stayed behind solely to tell the people what must be told.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For my own good, I have thrown away all shame. I stay only to keep you awake to your own welfare. You are blind to the body, forgetting it will pass; I am the one who knows sin from merit. Tuka says: I have stayed behind only to tell people what must be told.
What it means
Tukaram explains why he keeps speaking so plainly even though it costs him his standing. He has dropped shame for his own sake, because his work is to keep others awake. He names the gap between himself and his hearers: they are oblivious, treating the body as if it will last, while he sees clearly what is sin and what is merit. So his whole reason for remaining among people is service, to say out loud the truth that no one else will say. The line carries both humility and urgency: he stays not for himself but as a watchman over sleeping souls.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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