Moral ideal, the cost of a lie
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
असत्य वचन होतां सर्व जोडी । जरी लग्नघडी परउपकार ॥1॥
जाईल पतना यासि संदेह नाहीं । साक्ष आहे कांहीं सांगतों ते ॥ध्रु.॥
वदविलें मुखें नारायणें धर्मा । अंगुष्ठ त्या कर्मासाटीं गेला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां सांभळा रे पुढें । अंतरिंचे कुडें देइल दुःख ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even if a lie brings all kinds of gain, even if it serves another's good in the wedding-moment, it will lead to downfall; of this there is no doubt. Let me offer proof. Narayana himself made Dharma speak an untruth, and for that deed Dharma lost his thumb. Says Tuka, listen further: the deceit hidden within will surely bring suffering.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even if a lie brings every kind of gain, even if at the crucial moment it seems to help another, it leads to a fall. Of this there is no doubt. I will give you proof. Narayana himself made Dharma speak an untruth, and for that deed Dharma lost his thumb. Tuka says: take heed for what comes after. The crookedness hidden inside will give you pain.
What it means
Tukaram is warning that a lie carries a hidden cost no benefit can cancel. Even when falsehood looks profitable, or seems to serve another's good at a pressing moment, it ends in downfall. He offers the widely known instance where Narayana caused even Dharma, righteousness itself, to speak an untruth, and Dharma paid by losing his thumb; if the very embodiment of right was not spared, no one is. The real injury, he says, is inward: the crookedness you carry hidden will eventually turn into your own suffering. The plea is to weigh the future, not the immediate gain.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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