Exhortation, the heart of stone
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सेवटासी जरी आलें । तरी जालें आंधळें ॥1॥
स्वहिताचा लेश नाहीं । दगडा कांहीं अंतरीं ॥ध्रु.॥
काय परिसासवें भेटी । खापरखुंटी जालिया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अधम जन । अवगुणें चि वाढवी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even at the end, when the final moment arrives, one remains blind. There is not a trace of self-interest within; the chitta is like a stone. What good is meeting the philosopher's stone if one has already become a worthless potsherd? Says Tuka, a wicked person only grows in faults.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even at the end, when the last moment comes, he stays blind. Not a trace of his own good is in him; inside, he is just a stone. What use is meeting the philosopher's stone once you have already become a broken shard? Tuka says: the low person only grows greater in his faults.
What it means
Tukaram is warning against a heart that never softens, even at death. The blind man here is anyone who reaches the final hour with no care for his own true good, hardened inward like a stone. The image of the philosopher's stone is sharp: even the touch that turns iron to gold is wasted on a broken potsherd, on someone who has let himself become worthless to it. The closing line names the danger as a direction of growth: left unchecked, faults do not stay still, they increase. The verse points at the pattern of a closing, hardening life and urges the listener not to let his own heart turn to stone.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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