World's vanity, take refuge now
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उखतें आयुष्य जायांचें किळवर । अवघें वोडंबर विषयांचें ॥1॥
कोणासी हा लागे पुसणें विचार । मनें चि सादर करूं आतां ॥ध्रु.॥
उत्पित्त प्रळय पडिलें दळण । पाकाचें भोजन बीज वाढे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाऊं अभयाच्या ठायां । रिघों देवराया शरण वेगीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Life is as uncertain as a crumbling wall; all the pomp of the senses is mere show. Who shall I ask, and whom shall I consult? Let the mind itself now serve attentively. Creation and dissolution go on grinding like a mill; the seed of past action grows into future consequence. Says Tuka, let us go to the abode of fearlessness. Let us take refuge swiftly in the Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Life is uncertain, like a crumbling wall. The whole show of the senses is only pomp. Whom shall I ask? Whom shall I consult? Let the mind itself attend to this now. Creation and dissolution keep grinding on, like a mill. The seed of past action grows into what comes next. Tuka says: let us go to the place where there is no fear. Let us take refuge in the Lord, quickly.
What it means
Tukaram looks at how fragile a life is and decides to act on it. The body is a wall about to fall, and the pleasures of the senses are only display, not substance. He does not look outside for advice; he turns his own mind to face the truth. He sees the wheel of birth and death turning like a grinding mill, where each act sows the seed of its own consequence. The only sane response is to run, without delay, to the one refuge that fear cannot reach: the Lord.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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