Renunciation, dismissing false shame
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां येथें लाजे नाहीं तुझें काम । जाय मज राम आठवूं दे ॥1॥
तुझे भिडे माझे बहु जाले घात । केलों या अंकित दुर्जनाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
माझें केलें मज पारिखें माहेर । नटोनी साचार चाळविलें ॥2॥
सुखासाटीं एक वाहियेलें खांदीं । तेणें बहु मांदी मेळविली ॥3॥
केला चौघाचार नेलों पांचांमधीं । नाहीं दिली शुद्धी धरूं आशा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां घेईन कांटीवरी । धनी म्यां कैवारी केला देव ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now, O Shame, you have no business here; go away and let me remember Rama. Out of deference to you, I suffered great harm and became a slave to the wicked. You made my own home feel foreign and deceived me with clever disguises. For the sake of one comfort, I carried burdens on my shoulders and gathered a whole crowd of troubles. Social convention dragged me among the five senses, never allowing clarity or hope. Says Tuka, now I will weigh everything carefully, for I have made God my master and protector.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now you have no work here, O Shame. Go. Let me remember Rama. Out of deference to you I came to great harm; I was made the slave of the wicked. You made my own home feel like a stranger's, and dressed yourself up to fool me as if it were real. For the sake of one comfort I carried a burden on my shoulder, and it gathered a whole crowd of troubles. Social custom dragged me about among the five senses and never let me have clear sight, never let me hold any hope. Tuka says: now I will weigh it all on the scales, for I have made God my master and my defender.
What it means
Tukaram is throwing out worldly shame, the fear of what people will think, which had kept him from openly remembering Rama. He charges that this deference cost him dearly: it enslaved him to bad company, made his true home feel foreign, and tricked him with convincing disguises. Chasing one comfort, he says, only multiplied his troubles, and social convention kept dragging him through the five senses and denying him clarity. Now that he has taken God as his master and protector, he declares he will weigh everything honestly and no longer let shame rule him.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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