Exhortation, the rod of Yama awaits
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां रे न भजसी हरी । तुज कोण अंगीकारी ॥1॥
होइल यमपुरी । यमदंड यातना ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण जाली लगबग । काय करिसि तेथें मग ॥2॥
कां रे भरला ताठा । करिती वोज नेतां वाटा॥3॥
तोंडा पडिली खिळणी । जिव्हा पिटिती वोढूनि ॥4॥
कां रे पडिली जनलाज । कोण सोडवील तुज ॥5॥
लाज धरीं ह्मणे तुका । नको वांयां जाऊं फुका ॥6॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why do you not worship Hari? Who else will accept you? You will face the torments of Yama's city and the rod of his punishment. What is this urgent rushing about? What will you do when you arrive there? Why are you stiff with pride? They will drag you along the road. Your mouth will be clamped with nails, and your tongue will be pulled out. Why do you care about what people think? Who will come to save you then? Says Tuka, have some shame, and do not let this life go to waste.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why do you not worship Hari? Who else will take you in? You will reach the city of Yama, his rod and his torments. What is all this hurried bustling about? What will you do once you arrive there? Why are you stiff with pride? They will drag you down the road. Your mouth will be clamped with iron, your tongue pulled out. Why do you worry over what people think? Who will rescue you then? Tuka says: have some shame, and do not let this life go to waste.
What it means
Tukaram shakes the listener awake with a hard warning. He asks who will stand by you if you will not worship Hari, and answers with the city of Yama, the lord of death, where pride is met with the rod, the dragging, the clamped mouth and the torn tongue. The point is not cruelty for its own sake but to break the false priorities: all the worldly rushing about and the worry over other people's opinion will be worth nothing at that gate. He ends by urging plain self-examination, have shame, and do not throw this human life away.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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