Metaphor, stay awake, the thief is near
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जागा घरटी फिरे तस्कराची दिवसाराती । नीदसुरें नाडिलीं असो मागों किती ॥1॥
हाट करी सकळ जन । वस्तु करा रे जतन ॥ध्रु.॥
हुशार ठायीं । निजनिजेलिया पाहीं ॥2॥
सावचित्त असे खरा । लाभ घेउन जाये घरा ॥3॥
तराळ राळ बोंबें उतराई। राखा आपुलिया भाई ॥4॥
हरिच्या नामीं घालूं जागा । तुका ह्मणे हुशार गा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The thief's gang prowls day and night around the house. Those who sleep carelessly have been robbed. How long shall we keep asking? The marketplace is bustling with all kinds of people; guard your goods carefully. Be vigilant where you rest and sleep. The truly alert one takes his profit and goes home safely. Protect your own share amidst the noise and commotion. Says Tuka, let us stay awake in Hari's name. Be alert.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The thief's gang circles the house, day and night. Those who sleep carelessly have been robbed. How long shall we keep asking? The whole world is a busy market. Guard your goods. Be alert wherever you rest, even as you fall asleep. The truly watchful one takes his profit and goes home. Keep your own share safe in the noise. Tuka says: let us stay awake in Hari's name. Be alert.
What it means
Tukaram turns daily life into a marketplace where you can be robbed in your sleep. The thieves circling the house, day and night, are the senses and the pull of the world, and the careless sleeper who loses everything is the soul that drifts through life unguarded. He presses the urgency: this is a crowded, bustling market, so watch your goods and stay alert even as drowsiness comes. The reward is for the vigilant trader who pockets his real profit and reaches home safe, and the way to stay awake, the one safeguard he names, is to keep the mind fixed on Hari's name through all the noise.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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