Exhortation, the treasure at hand
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न लगे द्यावा जीव सहज चि जाणार । आहे तो विचार जाणा कांहीं ॥1॥
तुका ह्मणे कई होईल स्वहित । निधान जो थीत टाकुं पाहे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is no need to give up your life; it will leave on its own soon enough. Know this much and reflect upon it. Says Tuka, how will one's own good be served if one tries to abandon the treasure that is right at hand?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is no need to throw your life away; it will leave on its own soon enough. Know just this much, and think it over. Tuka says: how will your own good be served if you try to throw away the treasure that is right at hand?
What it means
Tukaram answers the impulse to discard the body, whether by despair or harsh austerity, with plain sense. There is no need to give up your life on purpose, he says, because it will depart by itself in good time anyway. The real point is what you do while you have it. He calls this human birth a treasure lying right in your hand, and asks how throwing it away could ever serve your own good. The exhortation is to use the life you have for what truly profits the soul, not to waste or destroy it.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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