Gratitude, saved by lowliness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरा कुणबी केलों । नाहीं तरि दंभेंचि असतों मेलों ॥१॥
भलें केलें देवराया । नाचे तुका लागे पायां ॥ध्रु.॥
विद्या असती कांहीं । तरी पडतों अपायीं ॥२॥
सेवा चुकतों संताची । नागवण हे फुकाची ॥३॥
गर्व होता ताठा । जातों यमपंथें वाटा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे थोरपणें । नरक होती अभिमानें ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It is good that I was made a simple farmer, otherwise I would have died of pride. You have done well, O God; Tuka dances and falls at your feet. Had I possessed any learning, I would have fallen into ruin. I would have missed the service of the saints; that would have been a pointless loss. With pride and arrogance, I would have walked the road to Yama's city. Says Tuka, through self-importance and ego, people earn themselves a place in hell.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is good that I was made a simple farmer; otherwise I would have died in my own pride. You did well, O God; Tuka dances and falls at your feet. Had I owned any learning, I would have fallen into ruin. I would have missed the service of the saints, and that would have been a loss for nothing. With pride and stiffness I would have walked the road to Yama's city. Tuka says: through self-importance and ego, people make themselves a hell.
What it means
Tukaram thanks God for his low station, reading his poverty as a rescue rather than a misfortune. Had he been learned or grand, he is sure pride would have ruined him and pulled him away from serving the saints, which is the one gain worth having. He traces where that pride leads: down the road to Yama, the god of death, and into hell. So he dances and falls at God's feet, treating his humble life as the very mercy that kept his ego from destroying him.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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