Worldly life, stay alert to the hour
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरें सावधान । राहावें समय राखोन ॥1॥
नाहीं सारखिया वेळा । अवघ्या पावतां अवकळा ॥ध्रु.॥
लाभ अथवा हानी । थोडएामध्यें च भोवनी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे राखा । आपणा नाहीं तोंचि वाखा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Remain well alert, watching for the right moment. All times are not equal; misfortune can overtake anyone. Gain or loss can turn in the briefest span. Says Tuka, guard yourself; the one who fails to do so is vulnerable.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Stay well alert. Keep watch on the right moment. All times are not the same. Misfortune can overtake anyone. Gain or loss can turn in the briefest span. Tuka says: guard yourself. The one who does not is the one left exposed.
What it means
Tukaram is counseling watchfulness in the face of life's turning. Times are not all alike; fortune and ruin can switch places in an instant, and no one is exempt. So he urges steady alertness, reading the hour and keeping watch rather than drifting. The one who fails to guard himself is precisely the one left vulnerable when the moment turns. The verse is practical caution, but underneath it lies the reminder that nothing here is secure.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
More in this theme →