The summons, be ready
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघियांच्या आलों मुळें । एका वेळे न्यावया ॥1॥
सिद्ध व्हावें सिद्ध व्हावें । आधीं ठावें करितों ॥ध्रु.॥
जोंवरि ते घटिका दुरी । आहे उरी तो काळ ॥2॥
मंगळाचे वेळे उभे । असों शोभे सावध ॥3॥
अवघियांचा योग घडे । तरी जोडे श्लाघ्यता ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे पाहें वाट । बहु आट करूनि ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We have come for the sake of all, to carry them away at once. Be ready, be ready; I tell you in advance. As long as the appointed hour is still distant, that much time remains. At the auspicious moment, stand alert and radiant. If all come together, the glory is complete. Says Tuka, I have been waiting with great longing.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We have come for the sake of all, to carry them away at once. Be ready, be ready; I am telling you in advance. As long as the appointed hour is still far off, that much time remains. At the auspicious moment, stand alert and bright. If all come together, the glory is complete. Tuka says: I have been watching the road with great longing.
What it means
Here the call to come home is spoken in the voice of the one sent to fetch the souls, telling them plainly to make themselves ready before the appointed hour. The warning is gentle but firm: time is given now, while the hour is still distant, precisely so that none are caught unprepared. The poem hopes that all will be ready together, for then the homecoming is at its most glorious. Tukaram closes in his own voice, having watched the road in longing, so the abhanga holds both the summoner's command and the soul's answering readiness.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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