Exhortation, the fire that fuel never quenches
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येऊनि संसारा काय हित केलें । आयुष्य नासिलें शिश्नोदरा ॥1॥
विषय सेवितां कोण तृप्त जाला । इंधनीं निवाला अिग्न कोठें ॥ध्रु.॥
देखोनी मृगजळ भांबावलीं वेडीं । विचाराची थडी न टाकिती ॥2॥
ऐसियां जीवांसी सोय न लाविसी । निष्ठ कां होसी कृपाळुवा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा अगाध पैं थोरी । सर्वांचे अंतरीं पुरलासी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having come into this world, what good have you done? You have wasted your life on the belly and its appetites. Who has ever been satisfied by indulging in sense pleasures? When has fire ever been quenched by adding fuel? Seeing a mirage, the foolish are bewildered, yet they will not take shelter on the bank of discrimination. O merciful One, why do You not set such jivas on the right path? Why do You remain indifferent? Says Tuka, O God, unfathomable is Your greatness; You dwell within the hearts of all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have come into this world; what good have you done? You have ruined your life on the belly and below it. Who was ever made full by feeding on sense pleasures? Where has fire ever been put out by adding fuel? The foolish see a mirage and run about bewildered; they will not stand on the bank of discrimination. O merciful one, why do You not set such souls on the road? Why do You stay so unmoved? Tuka says: O God, unfathomable is Your greatness; You fill the heart of every being.
What it means
Tukaram opens by holding a life up to a single test: what good have you actually done with it, or did you spend it all on appetite? He answers with two plain images of an endless craving, sense pleasure that never satisfies and fire that only flares higher when you feed it. People chase these the way the deluded chase a mirage, never stepping onto the firm bank of viveka, of discrimination between the real and the unreal. Then the prayer turns to God: You are merciful and You dwell inside every heart, so why do You leave such souls wandering? The poem holds together the failure of the seeker and an appeal to the very God who lives within him to turn him around.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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