The fortune-teller, the forgotten goddess
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐक बाई तुज वो कांहीं सांगतें शकुन । निजलिया भुर होसी जागें म्हणउन ॥१॥
मान्य माझें केलें सांगतें एका बोलें । न येतां हे भलें कळों कोणा लोकांसि ॥ध्रु.॥
सांगतें गुण जीवीची खुण ऐक माझी मात । बैस एका भावें माझे हातीं दे वो हात ॥२॥
बरवा घरचार तुज सांपडला ठाव । फळ नाहीं पोटीं येथें दिसे खोटा भाव ॥३॥
आहे तुझे हातीं एका नवसाचें फळ । भावा करीं साहए चहूं अठरांच्या बळें ॥४॥
करीं लागपाठ चित्त वित्त नको पाहों । अखई तो चुडा तुज भोगईल ना हो ॥५॥
कुळींची हे मुळी तुझे लागलीसे देवी । पडिला विसर नेदी फळ नाहीं ठावी ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे नांद सुखें धरीं आठवण । माझ्या येती कोणी त्यांचा राख बरा मान ॥७॥
कावडे - अभंग ५
आहा रे भाई । प्रथम नमूं तो विनायक ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Listen, sister, I will tell you your fortune. You who have been sleeping, wake up, for that is why I speak. Honor my word; I tell it in a single sentence. What I see will not be understood by anyone else. I read the lines of the soul; hear my counsel. Sit down with one mind and place your hand in mine. Your household life is good and you have found your place, yet no fruit has come, for there is some falseness in your devotion. The fruit of a vow already lies in your hand; take the strength of the four and the eighteen and make devotion your ally. Pursue it with persistence; do not look to the cost of heart and wealth. The eternal ornament of grace will never fail you. The original goddess of your lineage has been forgotten, and that is why no fruit has appeared. Says Tuka, live in happiness and hold this remembrance; whoever comes from my house, treat them with the highest respect.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Listen, sister, I will tell you your fortune. You have been asleep; I speak so that you will wake. Honor my word; I tell it in a single sentence. If it does not come true, let it be known to everyone. I will tell the marks of the soul; hear my counsel. Sit down with one mind and place your hand in mine. Your household life is good, you have found your place, yet no fruit has come into your lap, and I see a falseness here in your devotion. The fruit of a vow already lies in your hand; with the strength of the four and the eighteen, make devotion your ally. Keep at it steadily; do not count the cost to heart or purse. The unbroken bangle of grace will never fail to be yours. The first goddess of your own lineage has fastened on you and has been forgotten; you do not know it, and that is why no fruit appears. Tuka says: live in happiness and hold this in memory; whoever comes from my house, treat them with good respect.
What it means
Tukaram takes the voice of a wandering fortune-teller reading a sleeping woman's palm, and the reading turns into a teaching about the soul. Her outward life is fine, yet nothing bears fruit, and the diviner names the reason plainly: there is a falseness in her devotion. The cure is not more striving for gain but steady, wholehearted practice that does not stop to count its cost, for the unbreakable bangle of grace is already within reach. The heart of the prophecy is a forgotten allegiance, the original deity of her own line, the truth she was born to, has been neglected and so the fruit cannot come. He sends her off to live happily, only remembering what she had forgotten, and to honor those who come in his name.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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