Equal vision, poison and nectar alike
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी न देखों अवगुणां । पापी पवित्र शाहाणा ॥1॥
अवघीं रूपें तुझीं देवा । वंदूं भावें करूं सेवा ॥ध्रु.॥
मज मुक्ती सवें चाड । नेणें पाषाण धातु वाड ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे घोटीं। विष अमृत तुजसाटीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not see faults in anyone, whether wrongdoer, saint, or scholar. All forms are yours, O God, and I bow to them with devotion and serve them all. I care nothing for liberation; I do not distinguish stone from metal or rank. Says Tuka, I will swallow poison and nectar alike for your sake.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not look at anyone's faults, not the sinner, the pure, or the wise. All forms are yours, O God. I bow to them with love and serve them. I have no craving even for liberation. I do not tell stone from metal or rank. Tuka says: I will swallow poison and nectar alike, for your sake.
What it means
Tukaram describes a vision that has stopped sorting people into better and worse. He refuses to weigh anyone's faults, sinner or saint or scholar, because he sees every form as a form of God and bows to all of them in the same loving service. So complete is this seeing that he no longer even hankers after liberation, and makes no distinction between stone and precious metal or high and low. The final line names the cost he accepts: for God's sake he will take whatever comes, bitter or sweet, swallowing poison and nectar with the same surrendered evenness.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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