Exhortation, forgetting death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दिनदिन शंका वाटे । आयुष्य नेणवतां गाढें ॥1॥
कैसीं भुललीं बापुडीं । दंबविषयांचे सांकडीं ॥ध्रु.॥
विसरला मरण। त्याची नाहीं आठवण ॥2॥
देखत देखत पाहीं । तुका ह्मणे आठव नाहीं ॥3॥
माझें मज आतां न देखें निरसतां । ह्मणऊन आधार केला । संसाराची आस सांडुनि लौकिक ।
जीव भाव तुज दिला । नव्हतीं माझीं कोणी मी कवणांचा । अर्थ मोहो सांडवला ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Day by day doubt grows; one does not know how swiftly life slips away. How deluded are these poor jivas, hemmed in by the snare of pride and sense pleasures. They have forgotten death; its memory never visits them. Says Tuka, they watch others die right before their eyes and still take no heed. Now I cannot save myself by my own discernment, so I have taken Your support. Abandoning worldly hopes and social standing, I have given You my very life and love. No one was ever truly mine, nor I theirs; the delusion of attachment has been dispelled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Day by day the dread grows: we do not know how fast our life is running out. How these poor souls are fooled, hemmed in by the trap of pride and the senses. They have forgotten death; its memory never comes to them. Tuka says: they watch others die before their very eyes, and still it does not occur to them. Now I cannot save myself by my own discernment, so I have made You my support. I have let go of worldly hope and of standing among people, and given my life and heart to You. No one was ever truly mine, and I was no one's; the spell of attachment has been broken.
What it means
Tukaram opens with the plain fact people work hardest to avoid: life is draining away faster than anyone reckons, and the trap is pride and the pull of the senses. The cruelest sign of the spell is that we watch others die and still cannot believe it of ourselves. He does not exempt himself; the turn is that he admits his own discernment cannot save him either. So the exhortation becomes a confession of surrender, dropping worldly hope and the opinion of others, and giving life and heart to God. The closing line, that no one was ever truly his and the bond of attachment is broken, names the freedom on the far side of facing death squarely.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →