Exhortation, do not blame the one who warns
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाट दावी त्याचें गेलें काय । नागवला जो वारितां जाय ॥1॥
ऐसीं मागें ठकलीं किती । सांगतां खाती विषगोळा॥ध्रु.॥
विचारोनि पाहे त्यास । न वजे जीवें नव्हे नास ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जो रुसला जीवा । तयासी केशवा काय चाले ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What harm befalls the one who shows the way? It is the one who ignores the warning who is truly ruined. How many in the past have been deceived like this, swallowing the poison even as they are warned. Consider it carefully: the one who would not go did not lose his life. Says Tuka, he who has turned away from his own jiva, what can even Keshava do for him?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What does the one who shows the way lose? It is the one who, when warned, walks on, who is ruined. How many before have been fooled like this, who swallow the poison even as they are told. Look at it carefully: the one who would not go did not die, was not destroyed. Tuka says: the one who has turned away from his own life, what can Keshava do for him?
What it means
Tukaram defends the guide who warns and turns the blame back on the one who ignores the warning. The guide loses nothing by pointing out the road; it is the person who walks on despite the caution who is undone. Many before have been deceived this way, drinking the poison even after being told. He asks the hearer to reason it out: refusing the dangerous road never killed anyone. The hard close looks at self-examination, not contempt: if a person has turned away from his own true good, even Keshava cannot help someone who refuses to be helped.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →