Exhortation, take the lasting wealth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
द्रव्याचिया मागें किळकाळाचा लाग । ह्मणोनियां संग खोटा त्याचा ॥1॥
निरयाचें मूळ घालुनिया मागें । मांडिली प्रसंगें कथा पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
आजिच्या प्रसंगें हा चि लाभ घ्यावा । पुढील भार देवावरी घाला ॥2॥
प्रालब्ध कांहीं न पालटे सोसें । तृष्णेचें हें पिसें वांयांविण ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे घेई राहे ऐसें धन । सादर श्रवण करोनियां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The shrieking one pursues wherever wealth is found; therefore its company is false. Planting the root of hell behind him, a man sets up his story ahead. In this present moment, take this one gain; place the burden of what is to come upon God. Prarabdha does not change through any amount of bearing; this lunacy of thirst is without purpose. Says Tuka, take hold of the kind of wealth that remains, having listened with care and attention.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where wealth is, Death comes chasing after it; so its company is false. A man buries the root of hell behind him and sets up his story for the road ahead. Take the one gain that this present moment offers; lay the burden of what is to come upon God. No amount of bearing changes what is already fixed; this madness of craving is for nothing. Tuka says: take hold of the wealth that stays, and listen to it with care.
What it means
Tukaram warns that worldly riches are bad company, because death hunts wherever wealth gathers. The greedy man plants the seed of his own ruin and then makes grand plans for a future he will never safely reach. So the abhanga points to the one thing in reach now: take this present gain, the Name and the holy story, and hand the worry about the future over to God. Straining and scheming will not alter what destiny has set; the thirst for more is wasted lunacy. The wealth worth seizing is the kind that does not leave you, received through attentive listening.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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