Worldly life, the two-faced world
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरें जालीयाचे अवघें सांगाती । वाइटाचे अंतीं कोणी नाहीं ॥1॥
नोहे मातापिता नोहे कांतासुत । इतरांची मात काय सांगों ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जन दुतोंडी सावज । सांपडे सहज तिकडे धरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When times are good, everyone is your companion. When things go wrong, no one remains. Neither mother nor father, neither spouse nor child stands by you. What can be said of others? Says Tuka, the world is a two-faced beast; it seizes whatever prey falls easiest to hand.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When things go well, everyone is your companion. When things go wrong, at the end no one is there. Not mother, not father, not wife, not son. What is there to say of the rest? Tuka says: the world is a two-faced beast; it seizes whatever prey falls easiest to hand.
What it means
Tukaram is stripping the comfort out of human company so you will look elsewhere for refuge. In good times the companions crowd around; the moment trouble comes, they are gone. He names the closest ties to make the point sting: even mother, father, wife, and child do not finally stand by you, so the rest matter even less. The closing image is hard: the world is a two-faced animal that simply takes whatever victim is nearest and easiest. The unspoken turn is that only God is the companion who does not desert, which is why such company cannot be trusted with your soul.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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