Exhortation, surrender or the abyss
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करणें तें हें चि करा । नरका अघोरा कां जातां॥1॥
जयामध्यें नारायण । शुद्धपण तें एक ॥ध्रु.॥
शरणागतां देव राखे। येरां वाखे विघ्नाचे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे लीन व्हावें । कळे भावें वर्म हें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do this one thing and no other; why go to the dreadful hell? That alone is purity in which Narayana dwells. God protects those who surrender; all others face the storms of obstacles. Says Tuka, one must become humble. Through devotion alone does this secret become clear.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do this one thing and nothing else. Why go to the dreadful hell? The one pure thing is the thing that has Narayana inside it. God guards those who come to Him for refuge. The rest are torn apart by obstacles. Tuka says: you must become humble. Only through devotion does this secret become clear.
What it means
Tukaram lays out a stark choice: do this one thing, or go down to a terrible hell. The one thing is whatever has God within it; that alone is pure, and everything else is not. He draws the line plainly: those who surrender are protected, and those who do not are battered by every obstacle. The condition is humility, becoming low. He ends by saying the whole secret only opens to one who approaches through devotion, not through cleverness.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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