Moral counsel, pride and the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हित व्हावें तरी दंभ दुरी ठेवा । चित्त शुद्ध सेवा देवाची हे ॥1॥
आवडी विठ्ठल गाईजे एकांतीं । अलभ्य ते येती लाभ घरा ॥ध्रु.॥
आणीकां अंतरीं निदावी वसति । करावी हे शांती वासनेची ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you desire your own welfare, keep pride at a distance and let your service to God be offered with a pure chitta. Sing of Vitthal with love in solitude, and rare blessings will come to your very door. Let desires find no dwelling within you; make peace with your cravings and still them.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you want your own good, keep pride far away. Serve God with a pure heart. Sing of Vitthal with love, alone, and rare gains will come to your door. Let desires find no place to live in you. Make peace with your cravings and still them.
What it means
Tukaram gives a plain prescription for genuine welfare: drop pride, purify the heart, and serve God without display. He promises that loving, solitary remembrance of Vitthal draws blessings that cannot be earned by effort, gifts that arrive at the door unbidden. The other half of the work is inward housekeeping, refusing desires a place to settle and quieting the cravings that keep the mind in motion. The two move together: the heart emptied of pride and craving is the heart that can sing and receive.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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