Exhortation, death keeps the account
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
डोळे झाकुनि रात्र करूं नका । काळ करीत बैसला लेखा गा ॥१॥
राम राम स्मरा आधीं । लाहो करा गांठ घाला मूळबंदीं ।
सांडावा उगिया उपाधी । लक्ष लावुनि राहा गोविंदीं गा ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐसा अल्प मानवी देह । शत गणिलें अर्ध रात्र खाय ।
पुढें बालत्व पीडा रोग क्षय । काय भजनासि उरलें तें पाहें गा ॥२॥
क्षणभंगुर नाहीं भरवसा । व्हा रे सावध सोडा माया आशा ।
न चळे बळ पडेल मग फासा । पुढें हुशार थोर आहे वोळसा गा ॥३॥
कांहीं थोडें बहुत लागपाठ । करा भक्ति भाव धरा बळकट ।
तन मन ध्यान लावुनियां नीट । जर असेल करणें गोड शेवट गा ॥४॥
विनवितों सकळां जनां । कर जोडुनि थोरां लाहनां ।
दान इतुलें द्या मज दीना । म्हणे तुकयाबंधु राम म्हणा गा ॥५॥
गेले टळले पाहार तीन । काय निदसुरा अझून ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do not close your eyes and pretend it is night; Death sits making his account. Remember Rama's name now; seize this chance and tie the knot at the root. Set aside idle distractions and fix your gaze upon Govinda. This human body is brief: count a hundred years, and half is spent in sleep. Add childhood, illness, and decline, and see what time remains for devotion. Nothing here is dependable; be alert, release the grip of desire and illusion. When strength fails, the noose will fall, and the terror ahead is vast. Practice even a little devotion with a firm and steady heart; set body, mind, and attention straight if you wish for a sweet ending. Says Tuka's brother, with folded hands I beg all people, great and small: give me this one gift, and say the name of Rama.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not shut your eyes and pretend it is night. Death sits there, keeping the account. Remember Rama, Rama first of all. Be quick; tie the knot at the very root. Throw off the useless tangles. Fix your whole attention and stay in Govinda. This human body is such a small thing. Count a hundred years, and half of them sleep eats. Then add childhood, the troubles, sickness, decline. See for yourself what is left over for worship. It breaks in a moment; there is no surety. Wake up, you; let go of illusion and desire. When the strength is gone, the noose will fall. Be alert now; a great snare lies ahead. A little or a lot, keep at the practice. Do devotion; hold faith firmly. Set body, mind, and meditation straight, if you want the ending to be sweet. I beg all people, with folded hands, the great and the small alike. Give me just this much gift, to me who is poor: Tuka's brother says, say the name of Rama. Three watches have already passed and gone. Are you still half asleep?
What it means
This is a wake-up call, addressed to a sleeper who keeps pretending it is still night while Death sits nearby tallying the account. The poem's force comes from a blunt reckoning of time: a hundred-year life is already halved by sleep, and what remains is further eaten by childhood, illness, and old age, so very little is actually left for the inner work. Against that scarcity Tukaram urges the one cheap, available act, remembering the name of Rama, done now and held firmly, body and mind set straight. The 'noose' and 'snare' name the stakes plainly: when strength fails at the end it is too late to begin. The closing plea, asking only that people say the Name, makes the whole exhortation a gift requested rather than a threat delivered.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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