Exhortation, the moth and the flame
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
परपुरुषाचें सुख भोगे तरी । उतरोनि करीं घ्यावें सीस ॥१॥
संवसारा आगी आपुलेनि हातें । लावूनि मागुतें पाहूं नये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे व्हावें तयापरी धीट । पतंग हा नीट दीपासोई ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you would taste the joy of the Other Man, cut off your head and take it in your hands. Set fire to worldly existence with your own hands, and once lit, never look back. Tuka says: be that fearless, as the moth goes straight to the lamp.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you want the joy of the Other Man, then cut off your head and carry it in your own hands. Set fire to your worldly life with your own hand, and once it is lit, never look back. Tuka says: be that fearless. Be like the moth that flies straight into the lamp.
What it means
A hard saying about the cost of loving God. The Other Man is God, the one the soul runs to; the joy of that love is real, but Tukaram refuses to make it cheap. To have it you must offer your own head, the proud separate self, and burn the old life down by your own choice, with no looking back. The moth flying into the flame is his image for the only attitude that works: not careful, not hedged, but willing to be consumed. Half-courage will not reach it.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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