Exhortation, use the time while it lasts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जंव हें सकळ सिद्ध आहे । हात चालावया पाये । तंव तूं आपुलें स्वहित पाहें । तीर्थयात्रे जायें चुकों नको ॥1॥
जंव काळ असे दुरी ठेला । तंव तूं हरिगुण गायें आइक वहिला । मनीं भाव धरूनि भला । न वंचें त्याला चुकों नको ॥2॥
जोडोनि धन न घलीं माती । ब्रह्मवृंदें पूजन इति । सत्य आचरण दया भूतीं । करीं सांगाती चुकों नको ॥3॥
दशा यौवन बाणली अंगीं । पांगिला नव्हें विषयसंगीं । काम क्रोध लोभ मोह त्यागीं । राहें संतसंगीं चुकों नको ॥5॥
मग तेथें न चले कांहीं । सत्ता संपदा राहेल ठायींच्या ठायीं। पुढें संचित जाईल ग्वाही । तुका ह्मणे ते ही यमआज्ञा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
While all your faculties are still intact, your hands and feet still move, look to your own welfare. Go on pilgrimage; do not neglect it. While Death still stands at a distance, sing and listen to the virtues of Hari, quickly. Hold sincere devotion in your heart; do not cheat that impulse. Do not bury your earned wealth in the ground. Worship the brahmins, practice truth and compassion toward all beings. Make these your companions; do not neglect them. While the bloom of youth is upon your body, do not scatter yourself in sense-pleasures. Abandon lust, anger, greed, and delusion. Stay in the company of saints; do not neglect this. Later, nothing will avail. Wealth and power will remain where they are. Ahead, only your accumulated deeds will testify. Says Tuka, remember that Yama's judgment awaits.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
While everything is still ready, while your hands and feet still move, look to your own good. Go on pilgrimage; do not miss it. While Death still stands far off, sing and hear the praises of Hari, and be quick. Hold good devotion in your heart; do not betray it; do not miss it. Do not bury the wealth you earn in the ground. Worship the company of brahmins. Practice truth and compassion toward all beings. Make these your companions; do not miss them. While the bloom of youth is on your body, do not scatter yourself in sense-pleasures. Give up lust, anger, greed, and delusion. Stay in the company of saints; do not miss it. Later nothing will help. Power and wealth will stay right where they are. Ahead, only your stored-up deeds will speak for you. Tuka says: and that too is Yama's command.
What it means
Tukaram presses one point: act now, while you still can. Every line measures the gift against the closing window, hands and feet that still move, Death still at a distance, youth still on the body. He names the things to do while there is time, pilgrimage, the praises of Hari, charity instead of hoarded wealth, truth and compassion, the company of saints, and the abandoning of lust, anger, greed, and delusion. The stakes are stated plainly at the end: when the time runs out, power and wealth stay behind, and only your deeds go forward to testify before Yama, the lord of death. The urgency is not fear for its own sake; it is the simple fact that the chance is held open only for a while.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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