Devotion, the family's complaint against the lover of God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय करूं पोरा लागली चट । धरी वाट देउळाची॥1॥
सांगितलें नेघे कानीं । दुजें मनीं विठ्ठल ॥ध्रु.॥
काम घरीं न करी धंदा । येथें सदा दुिश्चत ॥2॥
आमचे कुळीं नव्हतें ऐसें । हें च पिसें निवडलें ॥3॥
लौकिकाची नाहीं लाज । माझें मज पारिखें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे नरका जाणें । त्या वचनें दुष्टांचीं ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What can I do? The child has caught the craze and heads straight for the temple. He will not listen to anything told to him. In his mind there is nothing but Vitthal. He does no work at home and is always restless here. There was never anything like this in our family. This particular madness has taken hold. He has no shame before society and has become a stranger even to himself. Says Tuka, those are the words of the wicked, and they lead to hell.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What can I do? The boy has caught the craze and heads straight for the temple. Whatever you tell him he will not take into his ears; in his mind there is nothing but Vitthal. He does no work at home, no business; here he is always restless. There was never anyone like this in our family; this particular madness has singled him out. He has no shame before respectable people; he has become a stranger even to his own. Tuka says: such are the words of the wicked, and they lead to hell.
What it means
Tukaram voices the family's complaint about one of their own who has fallen for God. The relatives are exasperated: the boy runs only to the temple, hears nothing they say, thinks only of Vitthal, neglects work and household, and shames the family before respectable society by becoming a stranger even to his own people. To them this is a disgraceful madness. The sting is in the last line: Tuka turns it around and says that these scolding, worldly words are the speech of the wicked, and it is that mocking voice, not the God-mad lover, that leads to hell. The poem flips the worldly verdict on its head.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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