Exhortation, spend this life on the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मोलाचें आयुष्य वेचुनियां जाय । पूर्वपुण्यें होय लाभ याचा ॥1॥
अनंतजन्मींचे शेवट पाहतां । नर देह हातां आला तुझ्या ॥ध्रु.॥
कराल ते जोडी येईल कार्यासी । ध्यावें विठ्ठलासी सुखालागीं ॥2॥
सांचलिया धन होईल ठेवणें । तैसा नारायण जोडी करा ॥3॥
करा हरिभक्ती परलोकीं ये कामा । सोडवील यमापासोनियां ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे करा आयुष्याचें मोल । नका वेचूं बोल नामेंविण ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Precious life is spent and passes away. Only by prior merit does one gain this human birth. After countless lifetimes, this human body has come into your hands. Whatever you earn now will serve you in the end. Meditate on Vitthal for the sake of true happiness. As saved wealth becomes a treasure, so make Narayana your lasting store. Practice devotion to Hari, for it will serve you in the world beyond and deliver you from the clutches of Yama. Says Tuka, use this life wisely. Do not waste your breath on anything other than the Name.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Precious life is being spent and slips away. Only by past merit do you gain it at all. After countless births, look: a human body has come into your hands. Whatever you earn now will serve you in the end. Meditate on Vitthal for the sake of true happiness. As saved money becomes a hoard, so make Narayana your lasting store. Do devotion to Hari; it will serve you in the world beyond and free you from the clutches of Yama. Tuka says: reckon the worth of this life. Do not spend your breath on anything but the Name.
What it means
Tukaram addresses the listener directly and frames human birth as a rare, costly thing won only after countless lives. He treats life as a currency that is draining away, and presses the question of what you are buying with it. The whole argument is an economy: meditation on Vitthal is the only saving that becomes a real treasure, and devotion to Hari is the only asset that holds value past death and buys release from Yama, the lord of death. The closing instruction is blunt: this birth is too precious to spend, so do not waste a single breath on anything other than the Name.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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