Exhortation, remember the last hour
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सावधान ऐसें काय तें विचारा । आले हो संसारा सकळ ही ॥1॥
अंतीं समयाचा करणें विचार । वेचती सादर घटिका पळें ॥ध्रु.॥
मंगळ हें नोहे कन्यापुत्रादिक । राहिला लौकिक अंतरपाट ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव अंतरला दुरी । डोिळया अंधारी पडलीसे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Be alert and consider this carefully, all you who have come into this world. You must reflect upon your final hour, for moments and seconds are being spent ceaselessly. The so-called blessings of sons and daughters are not truly auspicious; worldly customs are merely a curtain. Says Tuka, God has become distant, and darkness has fallen over our eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Be alert and think on this carefully, all of you who have come into this world. You must reflect on your final hour, for the moments and seconds are being spent without stopping. The blessings of sons and daughters are not truly auspicious; worldly custom is only a curtain. Tuka says: God has been pushed far away, and darkness has fallen over our eyes.
What it means
Tukaram calls everyone alive to a sober reckoning. Time is being spent every instant and cannot be recalled, so the one thing worth weighing is the hour of death and what you bring to it. He challenges what people count as blessings: children and family ties feel auspicious but are only a curtain over the real account, a worldly show. The closing line names the true loss in plain terms: in living for that show, people have let God slip far off and let darkness cover their sight. The push is to wake up now while the moments still remain.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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