Exhortation, the human birth and the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येऊनि नरदेहा विचारावें सार । धरावा पैं धीर भजनमागाअ ॥1॥
चंचळ चित्तासी ठेवूनियां ठायीं । संतांचिये पायीं लीन व्हावें ॥ध्रु.॥
नामापरतें जगीं साधन सोपें नाहीं । आवडीनें गाई सर्वकाळ ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे धन्य वंश त्या नराचा । ऐसा निश्चयाचा मेरु जाला ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having obtained a human body, seek out the essence. Hold firm to the path of devotion. Steady the restless mind and become humble at the feet of the saints. There is no easier spiritual practice in this world than the Name; sing it with love at all times. Says Tuka, blessed is the lineage of that person who has become as firm as Mount Meru in this resolve.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have come into a human body; now seek out the essence. Hold firm; take the path of devotion. Set the restless mind down in one place and grow humble at the feet of the saints. In all the world there is no practice easier than the Name; sing it with love at every hour. Tuka says: blessed is the family of the one who has grown as firm in this resolve as Mount Meru.
What it means
Tukaram treats the human birth as a rare chance that must be used to find what is essential, not squandered. The path he names has three plain steps: take up devotion and hold steady, still the wandering mind and fix it in one place, and bow low at the feet of the saints. He then sets the Name above every other practice, not because it is lofty but because it is the easiest thing in the world, available to anyone who will sing it with love at all times. The closing blessing rests on firmness: the one who becomes as immovable as Mount Meru in this resolve sanctifies not only himself but his whole line.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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