Autobiography, no market for the counterfeit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मां हें कवतुक जगा द्यावी नीत । करावे फजित चुकती ते ॥1॥
कासयाचा बाध एकाच्या निरोपें । काय व्हावें कोपें जगाचिया ॥ध्रु.॥
अविद्येचा येथें कोठें परिश्रम । रामकृष्णनाम ऐसे बाण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे येथें खयाचा विकरा । न सरती येरा खोटएा परी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
For us this is sport; to the world we give its proper teaching. Those who stumble are corrected. What harm can come from serving under one master's command? Why should we be troubled by the anger of the world? Ignorance has no foothold here. The names Rama and Krishna are our arrows. Says Tuka, there is no market here for counterfeit goods; they will not pass muster.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For us this is sport: to give the world its right teaching, and to set straight those who stumble. What harm comes from working under one master's command? Why should we be troubled by the world's anger? Ignorance has no labor to do here. The names Rama and Krishna are our arrows. Tuka says: here there is no sale for false goods; unlike elsewhere, the counterfeit will not pass.
What it means
Tukaram describes his work and what shields him in it. Teaching the world rightly and correcting those who go astray is, for him, a kind of joyful play, not a burden. Serving under God's single command, he feels no harm in it and refuses to be shaken by the world's displeasure. Ignorance gains no foothold where the names of Rama and Krishna are wielded like arrows; and in this place, unlike the ordinary market, nothing false or counterfeit can be passed off as real.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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