Worldly life, you cannot argue truth in
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय करूं सांगतां ही न कळे वर्म । उपिस्थत भ्रम उपजवितो ॥1॥
मन आधीं ज्याचें आलें होईल हातां । तयावरी सत्ता केली चाले ॥ध्रु.॥
अभुकेचे अंगीं चवी ना सवाद । मिथ्या ऐसा वाद दुराग्रह ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आप राखावें आपणा । संकोचों चि कोणा नये आतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What am I to do when the secret cannot be understood even after being told? The delusion that is already present keeps generating more confusion. Only one who has first brought the mind under control can exercise authority over it. In one who has not tasted the truth, there is neither flavor nor relish; forced argument is mere stubborn obstinacy. Says Tuka, guard yourself first; there is no need to impose yourself on anyone else.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What can I do when the secret cannot be grasped even after it is told? The delusion already sitting there keeps breeding more confusion. Only one who has first brought his own mind in hand can rule over it. In a man who has not tasted it, there is no flavor and no relish; forced argument is only stubborn obstinacy. Tuka says: guard yourself first. There is no need now to press yourself on anyone else.
What it means
Tukaram admits the limit of teaching: the secret can be told and still not land, because the hearer's existing delusion keeps manufacturing new confusion. He locates real authority in self-mastery, since you can only govern a mind you have first brought under your own hand. The line about flavor is the diagnosis, that for one who has never tasted the truth there is nothing to relish, and pushing arguments at such a person is just stubbornness on both sides. So the counsel turns inward: tend to your own guarding rather than imposing yourself on others.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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