Lament, mocked for kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पांडुरंगा आतां ऐका हे विनंती । बहु माझे चित्तीं भय वाटे ॥1॥
नाहीं आइकिलें संतांचिया मुखें । तें या मज लोकें भडसाविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
विष्णुदासां गति नाहीं तरावया । ह्मणती गेले वांयां कष्टत ही ॥2॥
धिक्कारिती मज करितां कीर्तन । काय सांगों शीण ते कािळचा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे मज वाटतें उदास । काय करूं यास पांडुरंगा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Panduranga, hear my plea now. Great fear has taken hold of my chitta. The people have taunted me with things I never heard from the mouths of saints. They say devotees of Vishnu have no hope of liberation, that all their efforts go to waste. They mock me for doing kirtan, and the suffering of those days is beyond telling. Says Tuka, I feel so dispirited; what shall I do about this, Panduranga?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Panduranga, hear my plea now. A great fear sits in my heart. People taunt me with things I never heard from the mouths of the saints. They say the servants of Vishnu have no way to cross over; they say all their toil is wasted. They scorn me when I do kirtan. How can I tell you the pain of those days? Tuka says: I feel so low. What shall I do about this, Panduranga?
What it means
Tukaram brings his discouragement straight to God and names exactly what is wounding him. People around him jeer that devotion is useless, that those who serve Vishnu will never be liberated, that their whole effort is thrown away. They mock him even as he sings God's praises, and the shame of it weighs on him. He does not pretend to be above the hurt; he confesses the fear in his heart and asks Panduranga, plainly, what he is supposed to do. The poem makes the prayer itself the answer: when the world scorns the path, you turn and ask the One you walk toward.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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