Withdrawal, the company that wearies
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संगें वाढे सीण न घडे भजन । त्रिविध हें जन बहु देवा ॥1॥
याचि दुःखें या जनाचा कांटाळा । दिसताती डोळां नानाछंद ॥ध्रु.॥
एकविध भाव राहावया ठाव । नेदी हा संदेह राहों चित्तीं ॥2॥
शब्दज्ञानी हित नेणती आपुलें । आणीक देखिलें नावडे त्या ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां एकलें चि भलें । बैसोनि उगलें राहावें तें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In the company of worldly people, weariness grows and devotion does not happen. The people of this world are of three kinds, O God. It is this very sorrow over people that makes me weary of them; their endless whims fill my eyes. There is no place for single-pointed devotion to remain; doubt does not allow it to settle in the mind. The book-learned do not know their own good, nor do they like what they see in others. Says Tuka, now it is best to be alone, to sit quietly by oneself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In company, weariness grows and devotion does not happen. The people of this world are of three kinds, O God. It is this very sorrow over people that wearies me of them. Their endless whims are before my eyes. There is no room left for single-pointed love to stay. Doubt will not let it settle in the mind. The book-learned do not know their own good, and they do not like what they see in others. Tuka says: now it is best to be alone, to sit quietly by oneself.
What it means
Tukaram is telling God why he is pulling back from people. He has found that crowded company drains him and crowds out devotion, because the endless whims and divisions of others keep his mind unsettled and leave no room for single-pointed love to take root. He is hardest on the merely book-learned, who miss their own good and cannot bear what they see in others, naming a pattern, not despising the persons caught in it. The conclusion is a deliberate retreat: better to sit alone and quiet than to lose the one thing in the noise of many.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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