Autobiography, rescued on the road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
होतों सांपडलों वेठी । जातां भेटी संसारा ॥1॥
तों या वाटे कृपा केली । भेटी जाली विठोबासी ॥ध्रु.॥
होता भार माथां माझे । बहु ओझें अमुप ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे केली चिंता । कोण दाता भेटेल ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I had been trapped in forced labor on the road to worldly existence. Then, along the way, grace was shown and a meeting with Vitthal took place. There was an immeasurable burden upon my head. Says Tuka, I had been wondering anxiously: what generous soul will come to my rescue?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I had been caught in forced labor, trapped while travelling the road of worldly life. Then on that very road grace was shown, and I met Vithoba. There was a load on my head, a burden beyond measure. Tuka says: I had been worrying, who, what generous one, will ever come to meet me?
What it means
Tukaram tells his rescue as a story of the road. He pictures samsara as a journey of forced, unpaid labor, with an immeasurable burden pressed on his head and no relief in sight. While he was still anxiously wondering whether any generous soul would ever come to help, grace met him on that very road in the form of Vithoba. The point is that the deliverance was unearned and unexpected, arriving exactly where he was bound and breaking.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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