Exhortation, bow without doubting
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चालें दंडवत घालीं नारायणा । आपुल्या कल्याणा लागूनियां ॥1॥
बैसविला पदीं पुत्र राज्य करी । पिता वाहे शिरीं आज्ञा त्याची ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आहे ठायींचा चि मान । आतां अनुमान कायसा तो ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Go forth and prostrate before Narayana for the sake of your own welfare. A son is seated upon the throne to rule, and the father carries his command upon his head. Says Tuka, the honor was always inherent; what room is there now for doubt?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Go, then, and bow down full-length before Narayana, for your own good. The son is set on the throne to rule, and the father carries the son's command on his own head. Tuka says: the honor was yours from the start. So what room is left now for doubting?
What it means
Tukaram urges the listener to stop hesitating and simply prostrate before God, framing it as plain self-interest. His image inverts ordinary rank: God is like a father who seats his own child on the throne and then bears that child's orders on his head, gladly serving the one he loves. The point is that surrender does not lower you. The honor was always already yours in the relationship, given freely. So the doubt that holds a person back from bowing is groundless; there is nothing to fear and nothing to lose, only a dignity to step into.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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