Daring argument, let the saints judge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पांडुरंगे पाहा खादलीसे रडी । परिणाम सेंडी धरिली आह्मी ॥1॥
आतां संतांनीं करावी पंचाईत । कोण हा फजितखोर येथें ॥ध्रु.॥
कोणाचा अन्याय येथें आहे स्वामी । गर्जतसों आह्मी पातकी ही ॥2॥
याचें पावनपण सोडवा चि तुह्मी । पतितपावन आह्मी आहों खरें ॥3॥
आह्मी तंव आहों अन्यायी सर्वथा । याची पावन कथा कैसी आहे ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मी मेलों तरी जाणा । परि तुमच्या चरणा न सोडावें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Look, Panduranga has been defeated. In the end, it is we who held the rope's end. Now let the saints hold court and decide: who is the one put to shame here? Whose injustice is at work, O Lord? Even we wrongdoers proclaim it aloud. Your claim of purifying the fallen has been exposed; we, the fallen, are the true deliverers. We are guilty, to be sure. But how genuine is Your claim of being the savior? Says Tuka, even if we perish, know this: we shall never let go of Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look, Panduranga has eaten dirt; He is shamed. In the end it is we who held on to the tuft. Now let the saints sit and judge this case: who is the one disgraced here? Whose is the wrong, O Lord? We cry out that we are the sinners. It is Your own claim to purify the fallen that has been put to the test; we, the fallen, are the real saviors here. We are guilty through and through, true. So how does Your story of saving stand? Tuka says: even if we die, know this. We will not let go of Your feet.
What it means
Tukaram stages a courtroom and asks the assembly of saints to decide who has lost face. His logic turns the usual roles upside down: he freely admits he is a sinner, so if he is not saved the failure falls on God, whose whole name is the one who lifts up the fallen. By holding on no matter what, the sinner is the one keeping the relationship alive, which is why he half-jokingly calls himself the savior. Underneath the playful reversal is fierce loyalty: he would rather die at the Lord's feet than release them, and he is betting that God cannot afford to let a clinging devotee fall.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →