Exhortation, the human birth slips away
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐका गा ए अवघे जन । शुद्ध मन तें हित ॥1॥
अवघा काळ नव्हे जरी । समयावरी जाणावें ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं कोणी सवें येता । संचिता या वेगळा ॥2॥
बरवा अवकाश आहे । करा साहे इंिद्रयें ॥3॥
कर्मभूमीऐसा ठाव । वेवसाव जाणावा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे उत्तम जोडी । जाती घडी नरदेह ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Listen, all you people: a pure mind is the true path to welfare. If you cannot devote every moment, then at least know the right time. No one accompanies you in death except the store of your past deeds. While the opportunity is still at hand, bring the senses under control. Know that this human realm is the field for earning merit; treat it as your place of enterprise. Says Tuka, the supreme gain is the human body, and its moments are slipping away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Listen, all you people: a pure mind is your true good. If you cannot give every moment, then at least know the right time. No one comes with you in death except the store of your past deeds. The chance is still at hand; bring the senses under your hold. Know that this human place is the field for earning; treat it as your work. Tuka says: the supreme gain is the human body, and its moments are slipping away.
What it means
Tukaram addresses everyone at once, naming a clean mind as the real welfare and then meeting people where they are. If you cannot devote all your time, at least seize the right moments. He strips away every false companion for the final journey: nothing follows you but the account of what you have done. While the chance lasts, govern the senses, because this human life is the one field where such earning is possible. The urgency is that the body is itself the rare prize, and each moment of it is running out.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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