Warning, the flood of falsehood
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुर्बळ हें अवघें जन । नारायणीं विमुख ॥१॥
झाडोनियां हात जाती । पात्र होतीं दंडासी ॥ध्रु.॥
सिदोरी तें पापपुण्य । सवेंसिण भिकेचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पडिला वाहो । कैसा पाहा हो लटिक्याचा ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All these people are wretched because they have turned their faces away from Narayana. They will depart empty-handed, shaking off their hands, fit only for punishment. Their provisions for the journey are merely sin and merit, accompanied by the weariness of begging. Says Tuka, see how great a flood of falsehood has swept over everything.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All these people are wretched. They have turned their faces away from Narayana. They will leave with empty hands, shaking them out, fit only for punishment. Their provisions for the road are sin and merit, and with them the weariness of begging. Tuka says: look how a flood of falsehood has swept over everything.
What it means
Tukaram names what makes a whole people wretched: they have turned their faces from Narayana, and so they carry nothing real. He pictures the end of the road, where they leave empty-handed, shaking out their palms, deserving only punishment. The only provisions they packed were sin and merit, and merit too runs out, leaving the weariness of begging. His closing cry is at the pattern, not at any one person: a flood of falsehood has covered everything, and he is asking the hearer to see it and turn back toward the Name while there is time.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →