Warning, watchfulness on the road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संबाल यारा उपर तलें दोन्हो मारकी चोट । नजर करे सो ही राखे पश्वा जावे लुट ॥१॥
प्यार खुदाई रे बाबा जिकिर खुदाई ॥ध्रु.॥
उडे कुदे ढुंग नचावे आगल भुलन प्यार । लडबड खडबड कांहेकां खचलावत भार ॥२॥
कहे तुका चलो एका हम जिन्होंके सात । मिलावे तो उसे देना तो ही चढावे हात ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Guard yourself, friend; the blows fall from both above and below. Whoever keeps a watchful eye is saved, but the heedless one is plundered. Love belongs to God alone; remember God alone. Why do you dance and shake your hips, stumbling and staggering under a needless load? Says Tuka, come, let us walk together with those who are true. Whatever we receive, let us offer it back; let us extend a hand upward.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Watch yourself, friend. The blows come from above and from below. The one who keeps his eyes open is kept safe; the heedless one is robbed. Love belongs to God. Remember God. Why do you leap and prance and shake your hips, forgetting love, fumbling and staggering under a load you do not need? Tuka says: come, let us walk together with those who are true. Whatever we are given, let us give it back; let us lift a hand upward.
What it means
Tukaram speaks here in his plain Hindi voice, as one traveler warning another on a dangerous road. The blows fall from every side, and only attention saves you: the watchful one comes through, the careless one is stripped bare. Against all the showy dancing and shaking that pass for devotion, he sets one quiet rule, love God and keep his name. He then turns the warning into an invitation: walk with the true ones, hold nothing back, and offer everything you receive upward to the One who gave it.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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