Longing for solitude, weariness of the crowd
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरि कां नेणते होते मागें ॠषी । तींहीं या जनासी दुराविलें ॥1॥
वोळगती जया अष्टमासििद्ध । ते या जनबुद्धी नातळती ॥2॥
कंदमूळें पाला धातूच्या पोषणा । खातील वास राणां तरी केला ॥3॥
लावुनियां नेत्र उगे चि बैसले । न बोलत ठेले मौन्यमुद्रे ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसें करीं माझ्या चित्ता । दुरावीं अनंता जन दुरी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Then why were the ancient sages unknowing? They distanced themselves from ordinary people. Those whom the eight supernatural powers serve do not touch the minds of ordinary folk. They ate roots and leaves to nourish their bodily elements, and yet made their dwelling in the forest. Closing their eyes, they sat still, sealed in silence, speaking nothing. Says Tuka, do the same to my chitta, O Ananta. Drive the world far away from me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Were the old sages then unknowing? They kept themselves far from ordinary people. The ones whom the eight powers serve do not touch the minds of common folk. They ate roots and leaves to keep the body alive. They made their home in the forest. They closed their eyes and sat still. They spoke nothing; they were sealed in silence. Tuka says: do this same thing to my mind, O Ananta. Drive the crowd far away from me.
What it means
Tukaram looks at the ancient sages and reads their withdrawal as wisdom, not ignorance. They held mastery over great powers, yet they would not mix their minds with the crowd; they lived on roots in the forest, eyes closed, sealed in silence. He is not condemning people so much as naming a danger to his own attention. So he turns it into a prayer: let my mind be drawn away from the crowd the way theirs was, O Ananta, that I may rest in you undistracted.
The Nature of God
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