Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं तरी मज काय होती चाड । धरावया भीड तुज चित्तीं ॥1॥
आह्मां न तारावें तुह्मी काय करावें । सांगीजोजी भावें नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
अन्याय एकाचा अंगीकार करणें। तया हातीं देणें लाज ते चि ।
काय ते शूरत्व मिरवूनि बोलणें । जनामाजी दावणें बळरया ॥2॥
पोहएा अन्नछत्र घालूनियां घरीं । दंडितो बाहेरी आलियासी ।
नव्हे कीर्त कांहीं न माने लोकां । काय विटंबणा तैसी ॥3॥
प्रत्यक्षासी काय द्यावें हें प्रमाण । पाहातां दर्पण साक्ष काइऩ ।
तुका ह्मणे तरी आह्मां का न कळे । तरलों किंवा आह्मी नाहीं ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If You will not save me, what reason would I have to hold You in my heart? If You will not ferry us across, what purpose do You serve? Tell me plainly, O Narayana. To take the side of one and accept his wrongs, and then to hand him the same old shame: what kind of valor is it merely to boast and show off strength before the crowd? One opens a charity kitchen at home and then beats away the very ones who arrive at the door. This is no glory; the people will not accept it. What more proof can one give when the truth stands in plain sight? A mirror needs no further witness. Says Tuka, do we not know, then, whether we have been saved or not?
This translation is auto-generated and may contain errors. We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram’s original Marathi.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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