Autobiography, the holy troublemaker
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आम्ही जालों गांवगुंड । अवघ्या पुंड भूतांसी ॥१॥
दुसरें तें खेळों आलें । एका बोले तो मियां ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघियांचा येऊं लाग । नेदूं अंग शिवाया ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खुंटूं नाद । जिंतूं वाद सर्तीनें ॥३॥
जोगी - अभंग १
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have become the village rogue, a bully to all the spirits and ghosts. Whatever second player comes along, I alone speak for him. I will come at everyone and let no one touch my body. Says Tuka, I will exhaust their noise and win every argument by sheer persistence.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have become the village rogue, a bully to all the spirits and ghosts. Whatever second one comes to play, I am the one who speaks for him. I come at every one of them and let none of them touch my body. Tuka says: I will choke off their noise and win the argument by sheer persistence.
What it means
In this short boast Tukaram casts himself, half playfully, as the local troublemaker, the one the unseen forces have learned to fear. The 'spirits and ghosts' stand for the inner enemies and old terrors that used to push him around; now the relation is reversed and he is the bully. The line about speaking for the 'second player' suggests he answers on behalf of others who are still afraid, taking the contest onto himself. The closing claim is not about cleverness but about persistence: he will simply outlast and outshout the opposing voices until they fall silent. The tone is the confidence of someone who has stopped being intimidated by what once intimidated him.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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