The voice is the Lord's, not mine
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हे शब्द एक देशी । सांडी गवशी कोणाला ॥1॥
जाली माझी वैखरी । विश्वंभरी व्यापक ॥ध्रु.॥
मोकलिलें जावें बाणें। भाता जेणे वाइलें ॥2॥
आतां येथें कैचा तुका । बोले सिका स्वामीचा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
These words are not confined to one place; they do not abandon anyone. My voice has become all-pervading, filling the universe. Like an arrow released from the bow, it cannot return to the quiver that held it. Says Tuka, where is Tuka now? It is the Lord's own teaching that speaks.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
These words are not bound to one place. They do not abandon anyone. My voice has become all-pervading; it fills the universe. Like an arrow shot from the bow, it cannot return to the quiver that held it. Now where is Tuka here? Tuka says: it is the Lord's own teaching that speaks.
What it means
Tukaram describes what has happened to his own speech: it no longer belongs to him or stays in one spot, but spreads everywhere and turns away no one. He gives the image of an arrow already loosed, which cannot be drawn back into its quiver, because once such words go out they cannot be unsaid or owned. Then he asks where Tuka himself is in all this, and answers that he is not the speaker at all. The teaching is the Lord's; Tuka is only the bow that released it.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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