The debtor God, having staked everything
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जन लोक पारिखें । अवघें केलें म्यां यासाटीं ॥1॥
नये सरतां नव्हे भलें । तुझें लक्षण कळलें ।
बैसलासी काढिलें । देहाचें मुळीं दिवाळें ॥ध्रु.॥
दिसतोसी बरा बोल कोंवळे । गुण मैंदाचे चाळे ।
दिसताती ये वेळे । काय करूं विसंबोनि ॥2॥
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे देखतां । अंध बहिर ऐकतां ।
कैसें व्हावें आतां । इतकियाउपरी॥3॥
तिहीं ताळीं हेचि हाक । ह्मणती पांढरा स्फटिक ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have alienated myself from all people and the world, and all of it was for Your sake. When what I have will not suffice, things will not go well. Your true nature has been revealed: You have sat down and declared the body itself bankrupt. You look presentable and speak gently, but the hallmarks of a cheat are showing at this moment. What should I do, having trusted You so completely? Says Tukya-bandhu, You appear blind to what is seen, deaf to what is heard. What more can happen now, after all of this? On every count the same cry goes up: they call it a pure, clear crystal.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I cut myself off from all people and the world, and I did it all for your sake. When what I have will not stretch far enough, things go badly. Your true nature is out: you have sat down and declared the body itself bankrupt. You look respectable and speak softly, but right now the marks of a cheat are showing. What should I do, having trusted you so completely? Tukya-bandhu says: you seem blind to what is seen and deaf to what is heard. What more can happen now, after all this? On every side the same cry goes up: they call it a pure, clear crystal.
What it means
The devotee lays out what he has staked: he gave up the whole world to belong to God, and now finds God acting like a debtor who declares bankruptcy of the very body. The complaint is that God looks trustworthy yet behaves like a swindler, blind and deaf to the soul's plea. This is the dark night of devotion, where the one you bet everything on seems to have vanished into silence. The harshness points at that experience of unanswered trust, not at real scorn for God. The last image, the pure crystal everyone praises, holds the irony: the world calls Him flawless even as the bhakta feels cheated.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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