Exhortation, a word to the willing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तेज्या इशारती । तटा फोक वरी घेती ॥1॥
काय सांगावें त्याहूनी । ऐका रे धरा मनीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नव्हे भांडखोर । ओढूनि धरूं पदर ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तोंड । काळें करा खालीं मुंड ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Spirited horses respond to a mere gesture; they take only a light tap on the back. What more need be said? Listen and hold it in the mind. I do not wish to quarrel or drag anyone by their garment. Says Tuka, blacken your faces and bow your heads down in shame.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Spirited horses move at a mere signal; they need only a light tap on the back. What more is there to say than that? Listen, and hold it in your mind. I do not want to quarrel, or pull anyone back by the edge of his garment. Tuka says: blacken your faces and bow your heads in shame.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts the willing listener with the obstinate one. A good horse obeys the lightest sign, and a person ready to learn needs only a hint and should take it to heart. He says he has no wish to fight or to drag the unwilling along by force. The closing line turns sharp toward those who will not listen, telling them to bow their heads in shame, because the failure is theirs and not the teacher's. The verse leaves each hearer to decide which he will be: the responsive horse, or the one left disgraced by his own refusal.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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