Exhortation, know the essential thing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जाणावें तें सार । नाहीं तरी दगा फार ॥1॥
डोळे झांकिलिया रवि । नाहीं ऐसा होय जेवीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुथोडएा आड । निवारितां लाभें जाड ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे खरें । नेलें हातींचे अंधारें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Know what is essential; otherwise, the deception is great. Just as closing your eyes does not make the sun disappear. Much or little, when you clear the obstruction, the thick gains are revealed. Says Tuka, what was in the hand has been carried off by darkness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Know what is essential, or the loss is great. Closing your eyes does not make the sun cease to be. Much or little, when you clear away the obstruction, the gain is large. Tuka says: what was already in your hand has been carried off by the dark.
What it means
Tukaram urges the listener to grasp the one essential thing, warning that to miss it is a heavy loss. His image is sharp: shutting your eyes does not put out the sun, so refusing to see the truth does not make it go away, it only blinds you to it. Clear away the obstruction, large or small, and great gain is revealed. The last line lands the stakes: through that willful darkness a person can lose even what was already in his hand, the truth that was right there to be seen.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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