Exhortation, against imitation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सांगतों तें तुम्हीं अइकावें कानीं । आमुचे नाचणीं नाचूं नका ॥१॥
जोंवरी या तुम्हां मागिलांची आस । तोंवरी उदास होऊं नका ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे काय वांयांविण धिंद । पति ना गोविंद दोन्ही नाहीं ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Listen to what I say, hear it well. Do not dance as we dance. So long as you hold desire for former things, do not pretend to be detached. Tuka says: why this pointless commotion? Neither husband nor Govinda. Both, gone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hear me well: do not try to dance the way we dance. As long as you still want your old life, do not put on the show of being detached. Tuka says: what is the use of all this empty noise? You end with neither: not the husband, and not Govinda. Both are lost to you.
What it means
A sharp warning against imitation. It is easy to copy the outward signs of the renunciant, the ecstatic dance, the talk of detachment, while the heart still clings to the old life. Tukaram says that half-measure is the worst of both worlds. The one who only pretends loses the husband, the ordinary life given up for show, and never truly gains Govinda either, because the wanting was never real. You must actually let go, or you fall between the two and hold nothing.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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