Self-portrait, the wealth of poverty
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
इहलोकीं आह्मां भूषण अवकळा । भोपळा वाकळा आणि भिक्षा ॥1॥
निमोली संपदा भयविरहित । सर्वकाळ चित्त समाधान ॥ध्रु.॥
छिद्राचा आश्रम उंदीरकुळवाडी । धन नाम जोडी देवाचें तें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे एक सेवटीं राहाणें । वर्ततों या जना विरहित ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In this world, shabbiness is our ornament: a gourd, a coarse blanket, and begging for alms. This is a wealth free of care and fear; the mind is content at all times. Our dwelling is full of holes, home to mice and rats. Our wealth is the Name of God and nothing else. Says Tuka, in the end we must dwell alone, moving through this world without attachment.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In this world, shabbiness is our ornament: a gourd, a coarse blanket, and alms. This is wealth without fear, without care; the mind is content at all times. Our home is full of holes, a colony of mice and rats. Our only wealth is the Name of God. Tuka says: in the end one must dwell alone. I move through these people without attachment.
What it means
Tukaram turns poverty into a boast. His begging bowl, ragged blanket, and alms are not shame but ornament, because they come without the fear that guards real property. His leaky house, overrun by mice, holds no treasure but the Name of God, and that is enough to keep the mind always at peace. He names the truth that frightens the rich: in the end each person dwells alone, so he practices that solitude now. He lives among people, but free of the attachments that would weigh him down.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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