Moral ideal, truth that cannot spoil
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं सुगंधाची लागती लावणी । लावावी ते मनीं शुद्ध होतां ॥1॥
वाया हातीं माप चाले सज्जनाचें । कीतिन मुख त्याचें नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रभा आणि रवि काय असे आन । उदयीं तंव जन सकळ साक्षी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बरा सत्याचा सायास । नवनीता नाश नाहीं पुन्हा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Fragrance does not need to be applied; it arises naturally when the mind becomes pure. The measure of a good person is in their hands; glory and the name of Narayana are upon their lips. Are the sun and its radiance separate things? At dawn, all people bear witness to this. Says Tuka, the labor of truth is worthwhile, for butter, once churned, can never be destroyed again.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Fragrance does not need to be applied; it rises on its own when the mind becomes pure. The measure is in the good person's own hands; glory and Narayana's name are on their lips. Are the sun and its light two separate things? At dawn everyone is witness. Tuka says: the labor of truth is worth it, for butter, once churned, can never be unmade again.
What it means
Tukaram is teaching that real goodness shows itself without effort or display. A pure mind gives off virtue the way a flower gives off scent, with nothing applied from outside; the good person carries their own measure, with God's name and glory on their lips. He uses the sun and its light, which are never two things, to say that an inner state and its outward shining are inseparable, and everyone sees it as plainly as daybreak. The closing image makes it permanent: the effort spent on truth is never wasted, because truth, like butter once churned from milk, can never be dissolved back and lost.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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