Humility, the reed that the flood spares
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
निंचपण बरवें देवा । न चले कोणाचा ही दावा ॥1॥
महा पुरें झाडें जाती । तेथें लव्हाळे राहाती ॥ध्रु.॥
येतां सिंधूच्या लहरी । नम्र होतां जाती वरि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कळ । पाय धरिल्या न चले बळ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Humility is beautiful, O God. No one's claim can stand against it. Great floods carry away the trees, yet the tender reeds remain. When the waves of the ocean come, those who bow humbly rise above them. Says Tuka, when one takes to the feet in surrender, no force can prevail against that.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Humility is beautiful, O God. No one's claim can stand against it. Great floods carry away the trees, yet the tender reeds remain. When the ocean's waves come, those who bow let them pass over and rise again. Tuka says: when you take hold of the feet, no force can prevail.
What it means
Tukaram praises lowliness as a strength, not a weakness. He says no rival claim can defeat the humble, because there is nothing rigid in them to break. The floodwater snaps and sweeps off the tall trees, but the soft reeds bend and survive; the ocean's waves crash, yet whoever bows lets them pass and comes up unharmed. The point lands in the last line: the one who clings to God's feet in surrender cannot be overpowered by any force, for yielding is exactly what saves.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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