Courage, deliver the message plainly
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
निरोप सांगतां । न धरीं भय न करीं चिंता ॥1॥
असो ज्याचें त्याचे त्याचे माथां । आपण करावी ते कथा ॥ध्रु.॥
उतरावा भार । किंवा न व्हावें सादर ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धाक । तया इह ना परलोक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When delivering a message, do not be afraid and do not worry. Let each person's burden rest upon their own head; you simply speak the truth. Either unload the burden or do not bother showing up at all. Says Tuka, the one who is ruled by fear has neither this world nor the next.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When you carry a message, hold no fear and feel no worry. Let what is each man's lie on his own head. You only tell the truth. Either set the load down, or do not come forward at all. Tuka says: the one ruled by fear has neither this world nor the next.
What it means
Tukaram speaks to the duty of the one who must deliver God's word, or any hard truth. The messenger is told to drop fear and anxiety, because each person carries their own responsibility on their own head; the speaker's task is only to say what is true. He demands wholeness: either fully unload the burden you were given to carry, or do not step up to the task in the first place; half-measures are useless. The closing line names the stakes. Whoever lets fear govern him loses on both sides, gaining neither this world nor the next, so timidity in speaking the truth is itself a kind of ruin.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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