Exhortation, against craving
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एक शेरा अन्ना चाड । येर वाउगी बडबड ॥1॥
कां रे तृष्णा वाढविसी । बांधवूनि मोहपाशीं ॥ध्रु.॥
ओठ हात तुझा जागा। येर सिणसी वाउगा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे श्रम । एक विसरतां राम ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One measure of grain is all you need; everything else is empty chatter. Why do you keep increasing your craving, binding yourself in the noose of delusion? Your lips and hands are active enough; the rest is needless exertion. Says Tuka, the only real loss is forgetting Rama.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One measure of grain is all you need. The rest is empty noise. Why do you keep swelling your craving, tying yourself in the noose of attachment? Your own lips and hands can do the work. The rest is wearing yourself out for nothing. Tuka says: there is only one real loss, and that is forgetting Rama.
What it means
Tukaram cuts the question of need down to almost nothing: one measure of grain, and everything piled on top of that is just chatter. He asks the listener directly why he keeps feeding his own craving when craving is the very rope of attachment that binds him. The body has hands and a mouth enough to meet real needs; the extra striving is self-inflicted exhaustion. He saves the only loss worth fearing for the end: not poverty, not lack, but forgetting Rama.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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