Moral counsel, peace held in the heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सोसें वाढे दोष । जाला न पालटे कस ॥1॥
ऐसें बरवें वचन । करितां तें नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
असे प्रारब्ध नेमें । श्रमुचि उरे श्रम ॥2॥
सुख देते शांती । तुका ह्मणे धरितां चित्तीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through endurance, faults only grow stronger; the tested character does not change. But this is true: the right words, when spoken, become Narayana Himself. Destiny keeps its appointed course, and effort only yields more effort. Says Tuka, peace gives contentment to those who hold it steady in the chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Indulge a fault and it grows; once set, the grain of a man does not change. But this is true: speak the right word, and it becomes Narayana himself. Destiny holds to its fixed course, and effort only breeds more effort. Tuka says: peace gives contentment to the one who holds it steady in the heart.
What it means
Tukaram sets two hard facts beside one good one. A fault fed by indulgence only swells, and a settled character is slow to change; meanwhile destiny keeps its appointed course, and straining against it just produces more strain. The one thing that lifts this is speech rightly used: a true word does not stay mere sound, it becomes God present. So he points away from struggling to rearrange fate and toward holding peace in the heart, where contentment actually lives.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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