Exhortation, the free wealth of kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कासया करावे तपाचे डोंगर । आणीक अपार दुःखरासी॥1॥
कासया फिरावे अनेक ते देश । दावितील आस पुढें लाभ ॥ध्रु.॥
कासया पुजावीं अनेक दैवतें । पोटभरे तेथें लाभ नाहीं ॥2॥
कासया करावे मुक्तीचे सायास । मिळे पंढरीस फुका साटीं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे करीं कीर्तन पसारा । लाभ येईल घरा पाहिजे तो ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why heap up mountains of penance and endless suffering? Why wander through countless lands, lured by promises of future gain? Why worship many deities when no real profit comes from them? Why struggle for liberation when it can be had freely at Pandhari? Says Tuka, spread the practice of kirtan, and every treasure you desire will come to your door.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why pile up mountains of penance and heaps of pain on top? Why wander through one country after another, lured on by the promise of gain ahead? Why worship many gods, when filling the belly is all you get there and no real profit comes? Why struggle and strain after liberation, when at Pandhari it is given free? Tuka says: spread out the singing of kirtan. The gain you are after will come home to you.
What it means
Tukaram strips away the costly roads people take toward God and points to the free one. One by one he questions them: harsh austerities that only add suffering, restless pilgrimage chasing a promised reward, the worship of many deities that feeds the stomach but yields nothing lasting, and the strenuous quest for liberation. Each, he says, is needless effort when what they seek is handed over for nothing at Pandhari. His counsel is simple and direct: take up kirtan, the open singing of God's name, and every treasure those hard paths chased will arrive at your own door.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →