Devotion, the oldest kinship
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझी माझी आहे जुनी सोयरीक । आधीं बंधु लेंक मग जाले ॥1॥
वांटेकरी ह्मणून पुसती आतां । परि आहे सत्ता करीन ते ॥ध्रु.॥
लेंकीचें लेंकरूं नातु जाल्यावरी । मंगळा ही दुरि अंतरलों ॥2॥
बाइलेचा भाऊ पिसुना सोयरा । ह्मणउनि करा विनोद हा ॥3॥
आकुळीं तों करूं नये तें चि केलें । न बोलावें भलें तों चि आतां ॥4॥
न ह्मणसी लेंकी माउसी बहिणी । आह्मां केलें धणी पापाचें त्या ॥5॥
बहु पांचांजणी केली विटंबना । नये दाऊं जना तोंड ऐसें ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे आधीं मूळ तें चि धरूं । मागील तें करूं उरी आतां ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You and I have an old kinship; we were kin before brothers and children came along. Now the heirs ask about shares, but the authority remains mine to exercise. After grandchildren and great-grandchildren arrived, even auspicious occasions grew distant. A wife's brother is but a nosy relative, so let us make light of this. In the confusion, what should not have been done was done; now it is best not to speak of it. Says Tuka, let us first hold fast to the original bond and then settle whatever remains.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You and I have an old kinship. We were bound before there were any brothers or children. Now the heirs come asking about their shares. But the right is mine, and I will use it. After daughters' children and grandchildren came along, even the festivals grew distant from me. A wife's brother is just a meddling in-law, so let us make light of this. In the confusion, what should not have been done got done. Now the kind thing is to say no more about it. Do not call them daughter, aunt, sister. They have made me a master of nothing but sin. The five of them shamed me badly. One should not show such a face to the world. Tuka says: let us first hold to the original bond. Whatever is left over, let us settle it after.
What it means
Tukaram speaks of his bond with God as the oldest kinship of all, older than any tie of blood or family. He sets that original relationship against the crowd of worldly relations that came later: heirs claiming shares, in-laws meddling, festivals and obligations pulling him away. He treats those entanglements wryly, even the sense of shame they have brought him, as things best laughed off and not dwelt on. His resolve is to grip the first bond, the one with God, before anything else. The worldly accounts can wait; the kinship that came before everything comes first.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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