Moral law, false words punished
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
यथार्थ वाद सांडूनि उपचार । बोलती ते अघोर भोगितील ॥1॥
चोरा धरितां सांगे कुठोयाचें नांव । दोघांचे ही पाव हात जाती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे असे पुराणीं निवाड । माझी हे बडबड नव्हे कांहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who abandon honest, straightforward speech in favor of hollow ceremonial words shall suffer terrible consequences. When a thief is caught, he names an innocent person, and both end up losing their hands and feet. Says Tuka, this verdict is found in the Puranas. This is not just my own idle chatter.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who abandon honest, straight speech for hollow, fine-sounding words will suffer terrible things. When a thief is caught and names an innocent man, both of them lose their hands and feet. Tuka says: this verdict stands in the Puranas. This is not just my idle chatter.
What it means
Tukaram warns about the cost of crooked speech. To trade plain honesty for impressive, empty words is not harmless; it brings real ruin. His example shows how the lie spreads the harm: a captured thief who falsely names an innocent man drags that innocent down with him, and both are maimed. The point is that false words do not stay private; they take other people down too. He closes by insisting this is not his own grumbling but a judgment already set down in the Puranas, so the hearer cannot dismiss it as one man's opinion.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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