Exhortation, the fair of life
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संवसारसांते आले हो आइका । तुटीचें ते नका केणें भरूं ॥1॥
लाभाचा हा काळ अवघे विचारा । पारखी ते करा साहए येथें ॥ध्रु.॥
शृंगारिलें दिसे न कळें अंतर । गोविला पदर उगवेना ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे खोटें गुंपतां विसारें । हातिंचिया खरें हातीं घ्यावें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Listen, all who have come to the fair of worldly life. Do not fill the gaps with worthless goods. This is the time of profit; use your discernment and be wise. What is displayed looks beautiful, but the inside is unknown; the entangled end cannot be freed. Says Tuka, when you invest in what is false, hold firmly to what is real in your own hands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Listen, all of you who have come to the fair of worldly life. Do not fill your gaps with worthless goods. This is the time for profit; think it all through and be wise here. What is on display looks beautiful, but you cannot see the inside; the tangled end will not come free. Tuka says: when you invest in what is false, hold firmly to what is real in your own hands.
What it means
Tukaram pictures human life as a busy fair, a marketplace where you have come to trade. The warning is against bad bargains: do not stuff your lack with worthless goods just because they glitter. He says this is the season for real profit, so use discernment now, while there is time. The goods on display look fine on the outside but you cannot see what is within, and once entangled you cannot get free. The real holding is God, the one true thing to keep gripped in your own hand.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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