Karma's weight, no refuge but God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बिळवंत कर्म । करी आपुला तो धर्म ॥1॥
पुढें घालुनियां सत्ता । न्यावें पतना पतिता ॥ध्रु.॥
आचरणें खोटीं । केलीं सलताती पोटीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । नाहीं भजन केली सेवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One's powerful karma enforces its own law. It seizes authority and drags the fallen further into ruin. Wrong actions, once committed, burn in the belly with regret. Says Tuka, without worship and service of God, there is no escape.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Your own strong karma does its work; it enforces its own law. It takes hold of you and drags the fallen one further down into ruin. Wrong actions, once done, burn in the belly with regret. Tuka says: without worship and service of God, there is no way out.
What it means
Tukaram is describing how our own past deeds keep their grip on us. Karma is not a distant judge; it is a momentum we set in motion, and it carries the fallen further down rather than letting them up. The wrong things we have done do not stay outside us. They sit in the belly and burn as regret. He ends with the one door that this weight cannot block: turning to God in worship and service. Nothing else loosens the hold.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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