Moral ideal, cut the treacherous tie
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हो का पुत्र पत्नी बंधु । त्यांचा तोडावा संबंधु ॥१॥
कळों आलें खट्याळसें । शिवों नये लिंपों दोषें ॥ध्रु.॥
फोडावें मडकें । मेलें लेखीं घायें एकें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे त्यागें । विण चुकीजेना भोगें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Be it son, wife, or brother, sever ties with those who are treacherous. Once their scheming is clear, do not touch them, lest their sins smear you. Shatter that pot. Count it dead with a single blow. Says Tuka, without renunciation, suffering cannot be escaped.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Be it your son, your wife, or your brother, cut your ties with anyone who proves truly treacherous. Once their scheming is plain, do not even touch them, or their wrongs will smear off onto you. Shatter that pot; count it dead, and finish it with a single blow. Tuka says: without renunciation, there is no escaping the suffering such a tie brings.
What it means
A hard teaching about poisonous relationships, and Tukaram does not soften it. Even the closest kin, he says, must be let go if they are genuinely treacherous, because corruption rubs off; staying close means sharing in the harm. The image of shattering a cracked pot with one clean blow is deliberately decisive: no lingering, no half-measures. This is not cruelty but protection of the soul. Where a bond reliably drags you toward ruin, only renouncing that bond ends the suffering. He places the welfare of the spiritual life above even family loyalty when the two genuinely collide.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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