Exhortation, the man who clings to his faults
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न संडी अवगुण । वर्में मानीतसे सिण ॥१॥
भोग देतां करिती काई । फुटतां यमदंडें डोई ॥ध्रु.॥
पापपुण्यझाडा । देतां तेथें मोटी पीडा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बोला । माझ्या सिणती विठ्ठला ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who will not give up bad habits secretly relishes the irritation they cause. What can punishment achieve when even the blows of Yama's rod upon their heads do not move them? When the reckoning of sin and merit comes, the torment only increases. Says Tuka, they grow weary, O my Vitthala, even of my words.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one who will not let go of his bad habits secretly enjoys the sting they bring. What can any punishment do, when even Yama's rod splitting their heads does not move them? When the account of sin and merit is settled, the torment there only grows. Tuka says: they grow tired even of my words, O Vitthala.
What it means
Tukaram looks at the person who refuses to drop his faults and finds a hard truth: at some level that person relishes the very irritation the habit causes, which is why correction fails. If even the blows of Yama's rod cannot move him, no outside punishment will, and when the final reckoning of sin and merit comes the suffering only mounts. The poem turns the harshness toward the pattern of clinging, not toward the soul caught in it, and ends in weary sorrow: such a one tires even of Tukaram's pleading, so he hands the matter to Vitthal.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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