Autobiography, God in all beings
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भूतीं देव ह्मणोनि भेटतों या जना । नाहीं हे भावना नरनारी ॥1॥
जाणे भाव पांडुरंग अंतरींचा । नलगे द्यावा साचा परिहार ॥ध्रु.॥
दयेसाटीं केला उपाधिपसारा । जड जीवा तारा नाव कथा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं पडत उपवास । फिरतसे आस धरोनियां॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Seeing God in all beings, I greet every person I meet; I make no distinction of man or woman. Panduranga knows the devotion within; there is no need for outward display. Out of compassion I have taken on this outward show of activity, so that through story and discourse dull jivas may cross over. Says Tuka, I am not observing a fast; I move about carrying this hope within.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I greet every person I meet because God is in all beings; I do not divide them into man and woman. Panduranga knows the devotion inside me; I do not need to give an outward proof. Out of compassion I have spread out this show of activity, so that through story and discourse heavy souls may cross over. Tuka says: I am not keeping a fast; I move about carrying this hope inside me.
What it means
Tukaram explains his own conduct as a man others may misread. He bows to whoever he meets, man or woman alike, because he sees God in every being, and he does not need to perform piety since Panduranga already knows what is in his heart. He admits that his visible round of activity, the singing and the telling, is itself a deliberate show, taken on out of compassion so that dull, weighed-down souls can cross the world on the boat of these stories. He ends by clearing up a misreading: he is not fasting or performing austerity; he simply wanders carrying one hope, that others be carried over.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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