Worldly life, childhood passes in play
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बाळपणें ऐसीं वरुषें गेलीं बारा । खेळतां या पोरा नानामतें ॥1॥
विटू दांडू चेंडू लगोया वाघोडीं । चंपे पेंड खडी एकीबेकी ॥ध्रु.॥
हमामा हुंबरी पकव्याच्या बारे । खेळे जंगीभोंवरे चुंबाचुंबी ॥2॥
सेलडेरा आणि निसरभोंवडी । उचली बाले धोंडी अंगबळें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसें बाळपण गेलें । मग तारुण्य आलें गर्वमूळ ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Twelve years of childhood pass in play, with all manner of games. Bat and ball, tipcat, leapfrog, hide and seek, all sorts of childhood pastimes. Wrestling, spinning tops, chasing and tumbling, lifting stones with youthful strength. Says Tuka, thus childhood slipped away, and then youth arrived, the root of all pride.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In childhood twelve years go by like this, the boy playing all kinds of games. Tipcat and bat and ball, leapfrog and tag, throwing stones, hide and seek. Wrestling matches, spinning tops, racing and chasing, tumbling and kissing-games. Sliding and whirling about, lifting heavy stones with the strength of his body. Tuka says: childhood went by like this, and then youth came, the root of all pride.
What it means
This is the first stage of a life laid out plainly, the early years counted off through their games. Tukaram piles up the children's pastimes, bat and ball, tipcat, leapfrog, tops, wrestling, until the sheer list makes the point: twelve whole years slip away in play, with not a thought given to anything higher. The sting is in the last line, where childhood passes only to hand over to youth, and youth is named the root of pride. The poem is the opening of a portrait of a life squandered stage by stage, asking the listener where the years are actually going.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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