Autobiography, mocked by the worldly
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तूं माझा कोंवसा । परी न कळे या धसां ॥1॥
कूट खाती मागें पुढें । जाती नरयेगांवा पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
माझी ह्मणती कवी। निषेधुनि पापी जीवीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पांडुरंगा । आतां कोण लेखी जगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You are my shelter, but these people do not understand. They take blows before and behind and march onward to the city of Yama. They call my poetry their own while inwardly condemning and sinning against it. Says Tuka, O Panduranga, now who pays any heed to the world?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You are my shelter, but these people do not understand it. They take blows behind and ahead, and march on toward the city of Yama. They call my poetry their own while inwardly condemning it, sinning in their hearts. Tuka says: O Panduranga, now who pays any heed to the world?
What it means
Tukaram contrasts his own refuge with the blindness of those around him. God is his shelter, but the worldly cannot grasp this, and so they stumble through life taking blows on every side, marching toward Yama's city, the realm of death. He notes a sharper hypocrisy: they claim his poetry as their own while privately despising it, sinning against it in their hearts. The closing line is his release from caring about their judgment. Once Panduranga is his shelter, the verdict of such a world no longer holds any weight over him. The point is to stop seeking the approval of those who neither understand nor mean well.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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