Exhortation, the human birth will not return
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बुद्धीचा पालट धरा रे कांहीं । मागुता नाहीं मनुष्यदेह ॥1॥
आपुल्या हिताचे नव्हती सायास । गृहदाराआसधनवित्त ॥ध्रु.॥
अवचितें निधान लागलें हें हातीं । भोगावी विपत्ती गर्भवास ॥2॥
यावें जावें पुढें ऐसें चि कारण । भोगावें पतन नरकवास ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे धरीं आठव या देहीं । नाहींतरि कांहीं बरें नव्हे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Change your buddhi; hold fast to something. This human body will not come again. You make no effort for your own good, chasing home, family, and wealth. A treasure has fallen into your hands by chance. Otherwise you will suffer the calamity of the womb again. Coming and going endlessly, falling into the pit of hell: this is what awaits. Says Tuka, remember the Lord while you still have this body, or else nothing good will come of it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Change your mind; hold fast to something. This human body will not come to you again. You make no effort for your own good; you chase house, family, and wealth. A treasure has fallen into your hands by chance. Otherwise you must suffer the womb again. Coming and going without end, falling into the pit of hell: this is what waits. Tuka says: while you still have this body, remember the Lord, or else nothing good will come of it.
What it means
Tukaram is shaking the listener awake. The human birth is a treasure that has come by chance and will not be given a second time, yet people spend it chasing house, family, and wealth and make no effort for the one thing that is actually their good. He names the stakes plainly: the alternative to waking up is to be born again through the suffering of the womb, to keep coming and going, to fall into hell. The whole abhanga turns on one urgent instruction. Use this body, while you still have it, to remember God, because this is the only window in which that effort can be made.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →