Exhortation, the world is barren
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
फळकट तो संसार । येथें सार भगवंत ॥1॥
ऐसें जागवितों मना । सरसें जनासहित ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघें निरसूनि काम । घ्यावें नाम विठोबाचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवाविण । केला सीण तो मिथ्या ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This worldly life is barren; the essence here is the Lord alone. This is what I tell my mind and the people alongside. Set aside all other concerns and take the name of Vithoba. Says Tuka, any effort made without God is utterly in vain.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This worldly life is hollow; the one real thing here is God. This is what I keep telling my mind, and the people with me. Set aside every other concern and take the name of Vithoba. Tuka says: any effort made without God is false.
What it means
Tukaram declares ordinary worldly life empty and names the one thing in it that has substance: God. He is rousing both his own mind and the people around him to the same waking. The instruction is direct: drop all the other business and take the name of Vithoba. The hard edge of the claim is the close, that any labor undertaken without God is not just less valuable but a lie, effort spent on nothing.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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