Exhortation, the willingly blind
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येऊनि नरदेहा झांकितील डोळे । बळें चि अंधळे होती लोक ॥1॥
उजडासरसी न चलती वाट । पुढील बोभाट जाणोनियां ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु फेरे आले सोसोनि वोळसा । पुढें नाहीं ऐसा लाभ मग ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाऊं सादावीत वाट । भेटे तरी भेटो कोणी तरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having attained a human birth, they shut their eyes as if by force, willingly making themselves blind. Even in the daylight, they will not walk the path, knowing well what lies ahead. Many rounds of suffering have already been endured; such a chance will not come again. Says Tuka, let me go forth calling out along the road. Let whoever will meet me, meet me along the way.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Having been given a human birth, they shut their eyes, as if by force making themselves blind. Even in daylight they will not walk the path, though they know well what lies ahead. Many rounds of suffering have already been endured; such a chance will not come again. Tuka says: let me go forth calling out along the road. Whoever will meet me, let him meet me along the way.
What it means
Tukaram grieves over people who have been given the rare gift of a human birth and then deliberately waste it. They close their eyes against what they could plainly see; even in broad daylight, knowing where the road leads, they refuse to walk it. He reminds them they have already passed through many rounds of birth and suffering, and that this opening will not come again. Then he names his own response: rather than despair, he will go down the road calling out, hoping that whoever is willing will come and join him. The poem is both a lament over willful blindness and a vow to keep summoning anyone who will listen.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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