Worldly life, the company of the harsh
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कर्कशसंगति । दुःख उदंड फजिती ॥1॥
नाहीं इह ना परलोक । मजुर दिसे जैसें रंक ॥ध्रु.॥
वचन सेंटावरी । त्याचें ठेवूनि धिक्कारी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पायीं बेडी । पडिली कपाळीं कुहाडी ॥3॥ ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The company of the harsh brings immense suffering and disgrace. There is neither fulfillment here nor in the world beyond; one looks like a wretched laborer. They keep one's word on a leash and then dishonor it. Says Tuka, it is as if fetters are on the feet and an axe upon the head.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The company of a harsh person brings heaps of suffering and disgrace. There is nothing in it for this world or the next; you look like a wretched hired laborer. They put your word on a leash and then throw it back at you in scorn. Tuka says: it is as if there are fetters on your feet and an axe upon your head.
What it means
Tukaram warns against keeping company with a cruel, abrasive person, naming the cost plainly: endless trouble and humiliation, with no gain here or hereafter. In such company you are reduced to a servant whose own words are held against you and flung back in contempt. He ends with two hard images, feet in fetters and an axe over the head, to show how trapped and endangered such a bond leaves you. The lesson is about the pattern of harsh company, urging the listener to examine whom they tie their life to.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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