Autobiography, the God-mad man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
याची कोठें लागली चट । बहु तट जालेंसे ॥1॥
देवपिसीं देवपिसीं । मजऐसीं जग ह्मणे ॥ध्रु.॥
एकांताचें बाहेर आलें । लपविलें झांकेना ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे याचे भेटी । जाली तुटी आपल्यांसी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where has this madness gripped me? A great stubbornness has taken hold. The world calls me 'God-mad, God-mad.' What was kept secret in solitude has now come out into the open and cannot be concealed. Says Tuka, through meeting with Him, I have broken ties with my own people.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where did this madness take hold of me? A great stubbornness has gripped me. The world calls me God-mad, God-mad, that is how it speaks of one like me. What I kept secret in solitude has come out into the open, and now it cannot be hidden. Tuka says: through meeting him, I have broken ties with my own people.
What it means
Tukaram speaks plainly about how his devotion looks from the outside: a madness, a stubborn obsession, and the village has a name for it, God-mad. What he once kept private has spilled into public view and can no longer be concealed. He does not defend himself or soften the cost. He simply states it: finding God has cut him off from his own people. The verse owns the social price of a love that cannot be kept respectable or quiet.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
More in this theme →