Moral ideal, show is not substance
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अति जालें उत्तम वेश्येचें लावण्य । परि ते सवासीण न ह्मणावी ॥1॥
उचित अनुचित केले ठाया ठाव । गुणां मोल वाव थोरपण ॥ध्रु.॥
शूरत्वावांचूनि शूरांमाजी ठाव । नाहीं आयुर्भाव आणिलिया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सोंग पोटाचे उपाय । कारण कमाईिवण नाहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A courtesan may possess supreme beauty, yet she is never called a virtuous wife. What is proper and what is not, each has its rightful place; greatness is measured by qualities, not by show. Without true valor, no amount of outward display can earn one a place among warriors. Says Tuka, all pretense is merely a livelihood; without genuine spiritual practice, nothing avails.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
However great a courtesan's beauty becomes, she is still never called a faithful wife. What is proper and what is not each has its own place; greatness is worth nothing where the real qualities are absent. Without true courage, no display wins you a place among warriors. Tuka says: pretense is only a way to fill the belly. Without real earning, it counts for nothing.
What it means
Tukaram is drawing the line between appearance and the real thing. Beauty, however high, does not make a courtesan a faithful wife; the name belongs to what one actually is, not to what one shows. So too, no display of bravado earns a coward a place among warriors. He calls all such pretense merely a way to feed oneself, a costume worn for a living. The standard he holds up is genuine inward practice and earning: where that is missing, the show is worth nothing, and this is a mirror to hold up to one's own pretending.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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