Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एक परि बहिर बरें । परि तीं ढोरें ग्यानगडें ॥1॥
कपाळास लागली अगी । अभागी कां जीतसे ॥ध्रु.॥
एक परि बरें वेडें । ताकिऩक कुडें जळो तें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे खातडवासी । अमृतासी नोळखे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Better to be deaf than to be a beast who knows nothing of the spirit. If fire has struck the forehead, why does the wretch still cling to life? Better to be mad than to live in dry, crooked logic; let that burn away. Says Tuka, one who dwells in the skin of a beast does not recognize nectar even when it is before him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →