Exhortation, the self-blind fool
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देहा लावी वात । पालव घाली जाली रात ॥1॥
कडिये मूल भोंवतें भोंये । मोकलुनि रडे धाये ॥2॥
लेंकरें वित्त पुसे जगा । माझा गोहो कोण तो सांगा ॥3॥
आपुली शुिद्ध जया नाहीं । आणिकांची ते जाणे काई ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसे जन । नकान जातां राखे कोण ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The fool lights a fire upon his own body and then calls for help when the night falls. The child on the hip looks around while the mother, having set it down, runs about crying. Like children asking the world, who is my protector? One who has no awareness of oneself, how can that one know anything of another? Says Tuka, when such people are headed to hell, who will save them?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The fool sets his own body on fire, then calls for help when night has fallen. The child on her hip, she sets down on the ground, and runs about crying, looking everywhere for it. Like children, people ask the world: tell me, who is my protector? One who has no awareness of himself, how can he know anything of another? Tuka says: when such people are headed to hell, who will save them?
What it means
Tukaram strings together images of people who cause their own trouble and then look outside for rescue. One sets fire to his own body and only cries for help once it is dark; another carries a child on her hip, puts it down, and runs about weeping while searching for it. So people beg the world to tell them who their protector is, never seeing it is near at hand. The root problem is self-ignorance: one who has no awareness of his own self cannot understand anything truly. The remedy is to turn and look within, since no outside savior reaches the one who will not.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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