Old age, remember now and be freed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वृद्धपणी न पुसे कोणी । विटंबणी देहाची ॥1॥
नव द्वारें जाली मोकळीक । गांड सरली वाजती ॥ध्रु.॥
दंत दाढा गळे थुंका । लागे नाका हनुवटी ॥2॥
शब्द नये मुखावाटा । करिती चेष्टा पोरें ती ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे अजूनि तरी । स्मरें श्रीहरी सोडवील ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In old age, no one inquires about you. The body is humiliated. The nine doors of the body have become loose and uncontrolled. Teeth and gums drip saliva; the chin touches the nose. Words will not come from the mouth; children mock and tease you. Says Tuka, at least now remember Shri Hari; He will set you free.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In old age no one asks after you. The body is put to shame. The nine doors have gone loose; the backside has lost its hold and sounds. The teeth and molars are gone, the spit drips, the chin meets the nose. The words will not come out of the mouth; the children make sport of you. Tuka says: even now, remember Shri Hari, and He will set you free.
What it means
Tukaram returns to the indignities of age, the body that no one tends, the nine openings that no longer obey, the dribbling mouth, the children who jeer. He names these things plainly so the comfortable will feel how thin their dignity is. The harshness is aimed at complacency, not at the elderly, who are simply showing what awaits all. Against this slow humiliation he sets one door still open: remembrance of Shri Hari, available even now, late as it is. That remembrance is the one thing that loosens the deeper bondage the failing body only makes visible.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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