Exhortation, set your life straight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वचनें चि व्हावें आपण उदार । होइल विश्वंभर संपुष्ट चि ॥1॥
सत्यसंकल्पाचीं फळें बीजाऐसीं । शुद्ध नाहीं नासी पावों येत ॥ध्रु.॥
वंचिलिया काया येतसे उपेगा । शरीर हें नरकाचें चि आळें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जीव जितां थारे लावा । पडिलिया गोवा देशधडी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through words alone one can become generous; the Lord of the Universe needs no enrichment. The fruits of a true resolve are like the seed itself: pure, they can never be destroyed. If the body is spent dishonestly, it serves no purpose; the body itself is but a frame for hell. Says Tuka, while still alive, set your life upon a firm course. Once entangled, one is driven here and there across lands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
With words alone you can be generous. The Lord of the Universe needs nothing added to him. The fruits of a true resolve are like the seed itself: pure, they cannot be destroyed. A body spent in fraud is of no use. Such a body is only a bed for hell. Tuka says: while you are still alive, set your life on a firm course. Once you are tangled, you are driven from land to land, with no home.
What it means
Tukaram is telling you to fix your direction now, while you can. He starts gently: even your speech can be generous, and God himself gains nothing from your offerings, so the work is for your own sake. A true resolve carries its fruit inside it the way a seed carries the plant; what is pure in intention cannot be undone. Then he names the stakes plainly: a body lived dishonestly is wasted, no better than a frame built for hell. So set your course while you are alive, because once you are caught in your own deceptions you are dragged about with nowhere to rest.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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