Tukaram, Poem 3598

‘Listen, my daughter-in-law, don’t waste the milk and curds.’ The mother-in-law started for Pandharpur, but from the gate she turned back to the house. ‘Listen carefully, child, to what I tell you. Take good care of any broken pots. The stack of cow-dung cakes I have piled up,—don’t begin on it while I am away. The wheaten-rolls I have made and put away,—don’t begin on them while I am gone. My mortar and pestle and grinding-mill,—I cannot help thinking about them. If any beggars come to the house, tell them I am gone to Pandharpur. Eat sparingly; if you make any savings, don’t waste them.’ ‘All right’, says her daughter, ‘You may go on your pilgrimage with your mind at ease. Seek your true welfare, mother; forget what you have left behind you.’ When she heard her daughter’s words, the mother bethought herself, ‘This is a trick of hers; she wants me to be off. Why should I go on a pilgrimage? What shall I see if I go? Where my children and my house are, my Pandharpur is there.’ Tuka says, All such people are entangled in deceitful hopes.