Outcast and slandered, turning to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय खावें आतां कोणीकडे जावें । गांवांत राहावें कोण्या बळें ॥1॥
कोपला पाटील गांवचे हे लोक । आतां घाली भीक कोण मज ॥ध्रु.॥
आतां येणें चवी सांडिली ह्मणती । निवाडा करिती दिवाणांत ॥2॥
भल्या लोकीं यास सांगितली मात । केला माझा घात दुर्बळाचा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे याचा संग नव्हे भला । शोधीत विठ्ठला जाऊं आतां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What shall I eat now, where shall I go? By what strength shall I remain in this village? The village headman is angry, and these townspeople are hostile. Who will give me alms now? They say I have lost my senses and are passing judgment against me in the village council. Good people have been told tales about me; the powerful have ruined this poor one. Says Tuka, this company is no good. I will go now in search of Vitthal.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What shall I eat now? Where shall I go? By what strength can I stay in this village? The headman is angry. The townspeople have turned against me. Who will give me alms now? They say I have lost my senses. They are passing judgment on me in the council. They have carried tales about me to the good people. The powerful have ruined this poor man. Tuka says: their company is no good. I will go now in search of Vitthal.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from the inside of being cast out by his own village. The headman is angry, the people are hostile, the council has ruled against him, and slander has reached even the decent folk, so that a poor man has been crushed by those with power. He names the practical terror of it: no food, no place, no alms, nowhere to stand. Then he turns the whole loss into a verdict on the company that produced it. If this is what their fellowship comes to, he wants none of it, and he leaves to look for Vitthal instead. The ruin pushes him toward God rather than away.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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