Worldly life, the snares of maya
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सकळ हे माया नागवे कवणा । भांबाविलें जना दाही दिशा ॥1॥
आशा तृष्णा दंभ लागलीं हीं पाठी । नेदी बैसों हाटीं मोह ठायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
काम क्रोध घरा लावितील आगी । निंदा हिंसा दोघी पळतां खाती ॥2॥
लाज पुढें उभी राहिली आडवी । ते करी गाढवी थोर घात ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे चिंता घाली गर्भवासीं । ओढोनियां पाशीं चहूंकडे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This maya deceives everyone, bewildering people in all ten directions. Desire, greed, and pretense follow close behind; delusion does not let one rest anywhere. Lust and anger set the house on fire; slander and malice devour you even as you flee. Shame stands before you, blocking the way, and it causes the greatest ruin. Says Tuka, worry drags you into the womb again, pulling you from every side.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All this is maya; whom does it not strip bare? It throws people into confusion in all ten directions. Hope, craving, and pretense cling close at your back; delusion will not let you sit still anywhere. Lust and anger set fire to the house; slander and malice devour you even as you run. Shame plants itself across your path and works the greatest ruin. Tuka says: worry casts you back into the womb, dragging you by the noose from every side.
What it means
Tukaram is naming the trap so plainly that you can feel it close. Maya leaves no one untouched; it spins people about in every direction. Then he lists the agents one by one: hope and craving and show that follow at your heels, lust and anger that burn the home down, slander and malice that eat you while you flee, and shame that blocks the road and ruins you. The point of the catalogue is that there is no exit while these run you. The end names the cost: worry itself drags you back into another birth, a noose pulling from all sides, which is why the soul must turn to God rather than fight the trap on its own terms.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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