Warning, the treacherous road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येणें मागॉ आले । त्यांचें निसंतान केलें ॥1॥
ऐसी अवघड वाट । कोणा सांगावा बोभाट ॥ध्रु.॥
नागविल्या थाटी । उरों नेदी च लंगोटी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे चोर । तो हा उभा कटिकर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who came this way before were left with nothing at all. So treacherous is this path; to whom can one cry out? He strips the traveler bare, not even leaving a loincloth. Says Tuka, that thief stands right there, hands on His hips.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All who came this way before were left with nothing. The road is that hard. To whom can I cry out about it? He strips the traveler bare. He does not leave even a loincloth. Tuka says: that thief stands right there, his hands upon his hips.
What it means
Tukaram speaks of the path to God as a road that takes everything from those who walk it. The travelers before us were left with nothing at all, and no one stands by to hear the cry of one who is being undone. He names the one who does this stripping: it is the Lord himself, the thief who robs the seeker of every possession, down to the last loincloth. The shock of the close is that the robber is not hidden; he stands openly, hands on his hips, the very God the traveler set out to reach. The path to him costs you all that you call your own.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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