Worldly life, the panic of the deathbed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विभ्रंशिली बुिद्ध देहांत जवळी । काळाची अकाळीं वायचाळा ॥1॥
पालटलें जैसें देंठ सोडी पान । पिकलें आपण तयापरी ॥ध्रु.॥
न मारितां हीन बुिद्ध दुःख पावी । माजल्याची गोवी तयापरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे गळ लागलिया मत्स्या । तळमळेचा तैसा लवलाहो ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The intellect falters as death draws near; at the wrong hour, idle chatter is all that remains. Like a ripe leaf that drops from its stem, one falls of one's own ripeness. Without being struck, a feeble mind suffers; the swollen one is caught in his own trap. Says Tuka, the fish that has swallowed the hook thrashes in desperate urgency.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
As death draws near the mind falls apart; at the wrong hour, only idle chatter is left. Like a ripe leaf that lets go of its stem, a person drops of his own ripeness. Even without being struck, a weak mind suffers; the swollen, arrogant one is caught in his own trap. Tuka says: like a fish that has swallowed the hook, he thrashes in desperate urgency.
What it means
Tukaram looks hard at the hour of death and the panic of a person who never prepared for it. When the end comes the intellect collapses, and all that is left is useless, frightened talk, far too late to do any good. He sets two images against each other: the one who is ripe falls gently from the stem like a fallen leaf, while the unready mind suffers without any blow landing on it, trapped by its own swollen self-importance. The final picture, a fish that has swallowed the hook and thrashes, is meant to be examined in oneself: the agony comes from having taken the bait of worldly attachment, and the time to spit it out is now, not at the end.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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