Moral ideal, wages without service
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चाकरीवांचून । खाणें अनुचित वेतन ॥1॥
धणी काढोनियां निजा । करील ये कामाची पूजा ॥ध्रु.॥
उचितावेगळें । अभिलाषें तोंड काळें ॥2॥
सांगे तरी तुका । पाहा लाज नाहीं लोकां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To eat wages without rendering service is improper. The master will dismiss such a one and honor the work that is truly done. To desire beyond what is fitting only blackens one's face. Says Tuka, look, the people have no shame at all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To eat the wages without doing the work is not right. The master will turn out such a one and honor the work that is truly done. To want more than is fitting only blackens your face. Tuka says: look, people have no shame at all.
What it means
Tukaram sets a plain standard of honesty using the figure of a servant and a master. Taking pay without rendering the service is wrong, and the master will dismiss the idler and reward only real work. Reaching for more than your due brings disgrace; that is what blackening the face means. He turns the small example into a verdict on the times: people grab beyond what they have earned and feel no shame doing it. The mirror is meant for the listener's own conscience.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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