Exhortation, no time for the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
प्रपंचाची पीडा सोसिती अघोरी । जया क्षणभरी नाम नये ॥1॥
नाम नाठविती आत्मया रामाचें । धिग जिणें त्याचें भवा मूळ ॥ध्रु.॥
मूळ ते पापाचें आचरण तयाचें । नाहीं राघवाचें स्मरण त्या ॥2॥
स्मरण भजन नावडे जयासी । आंदणीया दासी यमदूतां॥3॥
चिंतन रामाचें न करी तो दोषी । एकांत तयासीं बोलों नये ॥4॥
नये त्याचा संग धरूं ह्मणे तुका । धरितां पातका वांटेकरी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who endure grievous worldly suffering yet cannot spare a moment for the Name are to be pitied. Cursed is the life of one who never remembers Rama, the Self. Sin is the root of such a one's conduct; he has no remembrance of Raghava. One who has no love for remembrance, worship, or devotion is a gift-slave to Yama's messengers. One who does not contemplate Rama is a wrongdoer; one should not even speak to such a person in private. Says Tuka, do not keep the company of such a one, for by associating with him, you become a partner in his sin.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They endure the terrible suffering of worldly life, yet cannot find a single moment for the Name. Cursed is the life of one who never remembers Rama, the Self; that life is the root of rebirth. The root of his conduct is sin; he has no remembrance of Raghava. One who has no love for remembrance, worship, or devotion is a gift-slave to Yama's messengers. One who does not contemplate Rama is a sinner; do not even speak with him in private. Tuka says: do not keep his company, for if you do, you become a sharer in his sin.
What it means
Tukaram is struck by a strange refusal: people will bear endless worldly pain without complaint, yet cannot spare one moment to remember God. He names the cost plainly: a life without remembrance of Rama is the root of more rebirth, and such a person hands himself over to death's messengers as if he were a slave given away as a gift. The harsh counsel to avoid this person, and not even talk with him alone, is pointed at the pattern, not at hatred of the man, since the danger Tukaram names is contagious: keep company with a life built on forgetting God, and you take on a share of it yourself.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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