Exhortation, serve the all-capable Lord
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
समर्थाचे सेवे बहु असे हित । विचार हृदयांत करुनी पाहें ॥1॥
वरकडोऐसा नव्हे हा समर्थ । क्षणें चि घडित सृष्टी नाशें ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्याची कृपा होतां आपणा ऐसें करी । उरों नेदी उरी दारिद्राची ॥2॥
ऐशालागीं मन वोळगे अहनिनशीं । तेणें वंद्य होशी ब्रह्मांदिकां ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हें चि आहे पैं मुद्दल । सत्य माझा बोल हा चि माना ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is great benefit in serving the Capable One; reflect on this in your chitta. This Lord is not like any ordinary master; in an instant He creates and destroys the universe. When His grace descends, He makes you equal to Himself and leaves no trace of poverty. If you devote your mind to Him day and night, you become worthy of reverence even to Brahma and the gods. Says Tuka, this alone is the true capital; accept my words as truth.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Great good lies in serving the Capable One. Turn it over in your heart and see. This Lord is not like any ordinary master; in a single moment he makes and unmakes the universe. When his grace comes, he makes you like himself; he leaves no remnant of poverty behind. Serve him with your mind day and night, and you become worthy of reverence even to Brahma and the gods. Tuka says: this alone is the real capital. Take my word for true.
What it means
Tukaram urges the listener to weigh, in his own heart, where real benefit lies, and points to service of the all-capable Lord. He sharpens the point by contrast: an ordinary master can give only ordinary things, but this Master creates and destroys whole worlds in an instant. When such a Lord's grace falls on you, he raises you to his own state and burns away every trace of want; constant devotion makes even the gods bow to you. The closing image is mercantile: of all the wealth a person could gather, this is the only true capital. Everything else is spent and gone, but this is what actually pays.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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