Worldly life, the sunk boat
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मुळीं नेणपण । जाला तरी अभिमान ॥1॥
वांयां जावें हें चि खरें । केलें तेणें चि प्रकारें ॥ध्रु.॥
अराणूक नाहीं कधीं। जाली तरि भेदबुिद्ध ॥2॥
अंतरली नाव । तुका ह्मणे नाहीं ठाव॥3॥ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
From the very root, there is ignorance; then pride grows from it. To go to waste in this way is the certain outcome. There has never been any rest; once the sense of separateness takes hold, division follows. Says Tuka, the boat has sunk, and now there is no ground to stand on.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
At the very root there is ignorance; from it pride grows. To go to waste in this way is the one sure thing. There is never any rest. Once the sense of separateness takes hold, division follows. Tuka says: the boat has sunk, and now there is no ground to stand on.
What it means
Tukaram traces worldly ruin back to its source and names each step. It begins with ignorance, and from ignorance comes pride; that, he says, is the certain way a life is wasted. There is never any rest in it, because once you feel yourself separate, division and conflict follow without end. He closes with the image of a boat that has sunk: the support is gone, and there is no firm ground left to stand on.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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