Exhortation, choose the one imperishable God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपला तो एक देव करुनि घ्यावा । तेणेंविण जीवा सुख नव्हे ॥1॥
तें तीं माइकें दुःखाचीं जनितीं । नाहीं आदिअंतीं अवसान ॥ध्रु.॥
अविनाश करी आपुलिया ऐसें । लावीं मना पिसें गोविंदाच्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे एका मरणें चि सरें । उत्तम चि उरे कीतिन मागें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Make one God your own, for without Him the jiva can find no happiness. All else is illusory, a breeding ground of sorrow with no end in sight. Make the imperishable Lord your own, and set your mind ablaze with longing for Govinda. Says Tuka, a single death settles everything; only noble fame remains behind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Make one God your own. Without him the soul finds no happiness. All other things are false, and they give birth to sorrow; from beginning to end they have no lasting hold. Make the one who never perishes your own. Set your mind mad with longing for Govinda. Tuka says: one death and it is all settled; only the good you did remains behind.
What it means
Tukaram urges a single, decisive choice: take one God as your own and stop dividing your heart. Everything else is unreal and breeds grief, with no stability at the start or the finish, so it cannot hold a soul up. The remedy is to bind yourself to the imperishable Lord and to let longing for Govinda take over the mind like a happy madness. He reminds the listener that death comes once and clears the account; what survives is not possessions but the noble life lived, so spend it on the one thing that lasts.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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