Discernment, keeping the one true wealth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ठेविलें जतन । करूनियां निज धन ॥1॥
जयापासाव उत्पित्त । तें हें बीज धरिलें हातीं ॥ध्रु.॥
निवडिलें वरळा भूस । सार आइन जिनस ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नारायण । भाग संचिताचा गुण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That which is one's true wealth has been kept carefully preserved. The seed from which everything originates has been grasped in hand. The chaff has been winnowed away, and the genuine article, the pure grain, has been secured. Says Tuka, Narayana is the fruit of all accumulated merit.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My true wealth has been kept safe, carefully stored away. The seed from which everything springs is now held in my hand. The chaff has been winnowed off; the real thing, the pure grain, is secured. Tuka says: Narayana is the fruit of all the merit gathered across lives.
What it means
Tukaram describes the moment of having sorted true from false. He has set aside his real treasure and is holding the very seed that everything grows from. The image is winnowing: blow off the chaff, keep only the genuine grain. And he names what that grain is. Narayana, God himself, is the fruit ripening out of all the merit a soul has gathered over many lives. The one thing worth keeping is God.
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