Worldly life, still the chitta
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मुळाचिया मुळें । दुःखें वाढती सकळे ॥1॥
ऐसा योगियांचा धर्म । नव्हे वाढवावा श्रम ॥ध्रु.॥
न कळे आवडी । कोण आहे कैसी घडी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे थीत । दुःख पाववावें चित्त ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
From the root cause, all sufferings multiply. It is not the way of the yogi to increase this effort. One does not know what love is, or what form the next moment may take. Says Tuka, the chitta should be brought to a state of steady stillness in the face of suffering.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
From the root cause, all sufferings multiply. It is not the yogi's way to add to this toil. One does not know what one loves, nor what the next moment will hold. Tuka says: in the face of suffering, the chitta should be brought to steady stillness.
What it means
Tukaram traces all sorrow back to a single root and warns against piling on more striving, which only feeds it; that, he says, is not the yogi's path. He underlines how little we actually control: we do not truly know our own desires, nor what shape the coming moment will take. Given that uncertainty, the answer he offers is not more effort but inner stillness. When suffering comes, the work is to settle the mind into steadiness rather than thrash against it.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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