Whilst thou art busy at work,
Think on His name:
Then shall evil be vanquished,
And grief shall be turned into peace:
To this at the end thou must come,
When thy last breath faileth,
And home, children, wealth, are forgotten:
For long thou canst put Him off,
Thou canst live thy life as thou wilt,
But at last thy barque shall be sucked
to the whirlpool:
Break the snares from thee now,
Do now what thou some day must do:
At the end thou hast one defense,
One only,
Trust in His name.
By this alone thou canst find salvation,
But by this alone:
Then trust in Him now.
Tukaram (c.1598-1650 ) was a Hindu mystic and devotional poet. This passage is published in Easwaran’s spiritual anthologies, “God Makes the Rivers to Flow” and “Timeless Wisdom.” The audio recording is by Eknath Easwaran who is reading an earlier translation of the passage.