The debtor God, abuse to praise
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघा बुडविला लौकिक । सुखें चि भीके लाविलीं ॥1॥
थोंटा नांव शिरोमणी । नाहीं जोडा त्रिभुवनीं ।
ह्मणोनि शाहाणे ते कोणी। तुझे दारीं बैसतिना ॥ध्रु.॥
निर्गुण निलाजिरा निनांवा । लंड झोंड कुडा देवा ।
नागवणा या नांवा । वांचूनि दुजा नाइकों ॥2॥
सर्वगुणें संपन्न । कळों आलासी संपूर्ण ।
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे चरण । आतां जीवें न सोडीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have drowned all reputation and cheerfully sent everyone begging. Your name is the peerless crown, without equal in all three worlds, which is precisely why the clever ones never sit at Your door. Formless, shameless, nameless, rascal, scoundrel, deceitful God, swindler: these are the only names I hear for You. In all Your qualities You have proved Yourself complete. Says Tukya-bandhu, now I will not release Your feet even at the cost of my life.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have drowned all my reputation and cheerfully sent everyone out begging. Your name is the matchless crown, with no equal in the three worlds, which is exactly why no clever person ever sits at your door. Formless one, shameless one, nameless one, rascal, scoundrel, deceitful God, swindler: these are the only names I hear for you. In all your qualities you have shown yourself complete. Tukya-bandhu says: now I will not let go of your feet, not if it costs me my life.
What it means
The poet piles up abuse, calling God formless, shameless, a cheat and a swindler, and then in the same breath crowns Him as peerless in all three worlds. The insults are the bhakta's joke against himself and the world: only a fool would trust a God who beggars His devotees, yet that very God has no equal. Naming God nirguna, formless, slides the scolding toward truth, since the formless one cannot be pinned to ordinary fair dealing. The turn comes at the end: having called Him every bad name, the poet seizes His feet and vows never to let go. The whole quarrel was love in disguise, and surrender is where it lands.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →