Moral ideal, you become what you follow
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चोरें चोरातें करावा उपदेश । आपुला अभ्यास असेल तो ॥१॥
शिंदळीच्या मागें वेचितां पाउलें । होईल आपुलें तिच्या ऐसें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका म्हणे भितो पुढिलिया दत्ता । म्हणऊनि चिंता उपजली ॥२॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A thief teaches a thief only what he himself practices. Waste your steps trailing a wayward woman, you will become like her. Says Tuka, I fear what is already assigned ahead, and so this anxiety has arisen.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A thief can only teach another thief the trade he himself practices. Wear out your feet following after a wayward woman, and you will end up just like her. Tuka says: I am afraid of what lies ahead for me, and that is exactly why this anxiety has risen up in me.
What it means
Two plain truths about influence, and then a startling turn inward. You become what you follow: a thief passes on only thievery, and trailing after the corrupt makes you corrupt. So far it is a warning about company. But the last line is pure Tukaram, the saint suspicious of himself: rather than congratulate himself for knowing better, he confesses that he too fears where his own steps might lead, and that this honest fear is the very source of his vigilance. The teaching about others becomes a reason for self-watchfulness.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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