The debtor God, no empty words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बहु बोलणें नये कामा । वाउगें तें पुरुषोत्तमा । एकाचि वचनें आह्मां । काय सांगणें तें सांग ॥1॥
देणें आहे कीं भांडाई । करणें आहे सांग भाई । आतां भीड कांहीं । कोणी न धरी सर्वथा ॥ध्रु.॥
मागें गेलें जें होउनी । असो तें धरित नाहीं मनीं । आतां पुढें येथूनि । कैसा काय विचार ॥2॥
सारखी नाहीं अवघी वेळ । हें तों कळतें सकळ । तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे खळखळ । करावी ते उरेल ॥3॥
आतां हें न सुटे न चुके । बोल कां दवडिसी फिके।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Too much talk serves no purpose; empty words are useless, O Purushottama. Tell me plainly in one sentence what You intend. Will You repay what is owed, or shall there be a quarrel? Tell me frankly, brother. Let no one hold back now; all courtesy is past. What happened before is done; I hold no grudge. But from this point forward, what is Your plan? Every moment is not the same; that much is clear to everyone. Says Tukya-bandhu, whatever tumult is stirred up now will remain for good. This matter will not be dropped or forgotten; why do You waste time with feeble words?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Too much talk is useless; empty words help nothing, Purushottama. Tell me plainly, in one sentence, what you mean to do. Will you repay what is owed, or will there be a quarrel? Speak frankly, brother. Let no one hold back now; all politeness is past. What is done is done; I hold no grudge for it. But from here on, what is your plan? Not every moment is the same, and everyone knows it. Tukya-bandhu says: whatever uproar is raised now will stay for good. This will not be dropped or forgotten. Why waste time on feeble words?
What it means
The bhakta demands a straight answer from God, addressed as Purushottama, the Supreme Person: pay or quarrel, but no more soft delaying talk. He waives the past grievance to make the point sharper, fixing all the pressure on what God will do next. The warning that every moment is not the same names the stakes: there is a time when accounts come due, and that time has arrived. He promises the matter will not be quietly let go. The abhanga is a portrait of prayer that refuses to be fobbed off with vague comfort and insists on a real reckoning.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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