Exhortation, quit the pile-on
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अझुनि कां थीर पोरा न म्हणसी किर । धरुनियां धीर लाजे बुर निघाला ॥१॥
मोकळा होतासि कां रे पडिलासि डाई । वरिलांचा भार आतां उतरेसा नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
मेळवूनि मेळा एकाएकीं दिली मिठी । कवळिलें एक बहु बैसविलीं पाठीं ॥२॥
तळील तें वरी वरील तें येतें तळा । न सुटे तोंवरी येथें गुंतलिया खेळा ॥३॥
सांडितां ठाव पुढें सईल धरी हात । चढेल तो पडेल ऐसी ऐका रे मात ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे किती आवरावे हात पाय । न खेळावें तोंच बरें वरी न ये डाय ॥५॥
कोडें - अभंग २
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Child, why won't you stand still and call out "I quit!"? Summon your nerve. Ashamed, you ducked and went under. You were free and clear, so why did you fall on a bad throw? Now the weight of those on top will not come off. Gathering the whole crowd, they seized each other all at once. One was grabbed while many more climbed on his back. The one below comes up, the one on top goes down. Until you break free, you are tangled in this game. Leave your spot and the next player grabs your hand. Whoever climbs will fall. Listen to these words. Says Tuka: how long can you restrain your hands and feet? Better not to have played at all than end up under the pile.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Child, why will you still not stand still and call out, I quit? Find your nerve. Out of shame you ducked your head and went under. You were free and clear, so why did you let the bad throw catch you? Now the weight of all the players piled on top will not lift off you. They gathered the whole crowd and grabbed each other all at once; one was seized while many more climbed onto his back. The one underneath rises, the one on top sinks, and until you break loose you stay tangled in the game. Leave your place and the next player grabs your hand; whoever climbs will surely fall. Hear these words. Tuka says: how long can you keep your hands and feet under control in there? It would have been better never to have played than to end up crushed at the bottom of the pile.
What it means
A companion to the ball-game poem, drawn from the rough children's game of climbing and pile-on. The world is that game: you were free, but shame and hesitation drew you in, and now you are pinned under the weight of everyone else's scrambling. The cruel logic of it is that positions constantly reverse, the one on top sinks, the one below rises, so there is no winning, only endless entanglement until you break free. Tukaram's blunt counsel: the wise move is to quit, to stand still and say I am out, and better still never to have joined the scramble at all. The only victory is non-participation.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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