Exhortation, test before you trust
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मेघवृष्टीनें करावा उपदेश परि गुरुनें न करावा शिष्य। वांटा लाभे त्यास केल्या अर्धकर्माचा ॥1॥
द्रव्य वेचावें अन्नसत्रीं भूतीं द्यावें सर्वत्र । नेदावा हा पुत्र उत्तमयाती पोसना ॥ध्रु.॥
बीज न पेरावें खडकीं ओल नाहीं ज्याचे बुडखीं । थीतां ठके सेखीं पाठी लागे दिवाण ॥2॥
गुज बोलावें संतांशीं पत्नी राखावी जैसी दासी । लाड देतां तियेसी वांटा पावे कर्माचा ॥3॥
शुद्ध कसूनिपाहावें वरि रंगा न भुलावें । तुका ह्मणे घ्यावें जया नये तुटी तें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A guru should teach like rain falling everywhere, but should not make disciples recklessly. The disciple shares in the karma, whether good or ill. Spend your wealth in feeding houses, give to all beings, but do not give your son to an unworthy person for upbringing. Do not sow seed on barren rock where there is no moisture at the root; those who persist there will be cheated in the end. Share your innermost wisdom only with saints. Keep your wife like a servant in the household; if you indulge her, she claims a share of karma. Test for purity first; do not be dazzled by surface color. Says Tuka, take only that which will not lead to loss.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A teacher should pour out teaching like rain falling everywhere. But a teacher should not take on a disciple carelessly. The disciple shares in the master's karma, the good and the half-done alike. Spend your wealth on feeding houses; give to all beings. But do not hand your son to an unworthy person to raise. Do not sow seed on bare rock where there is no moisture at the root. Those who keep trying there are cheated in the end, and the collector comes after them. Speak your innermost wisdom only to the saints. Keep your wife as you would a servant of the house; if you indulge her, she takes a share of the karma. Test for what is pure first. Do not be fooled by the color on the surface. Tuka says: take only what will not lead you into loss.
What it means
Tukaram lays down a string of warnings about where you invest your trust and your effort, all turning on one rule: discernment before commitment. Generosity should be wide, like rain, but a guru who accepts a disciple, or a parent who hands over a child, binds himself to that person's karma, so the choice must be careful. Sowing seed on bare rock stands for any effort poured where there is no inner readiness; it yields nothing and leaves you worse off. The harsh line about keeping a wife like a servant reflects a householder's caution of his era against indulgence that entangles you; the point under it is the same as the rest, that closeness shares consequence. His final test is the practical heart of the poem: look past the surface color to what is actually pure, and accept only what will not end in loss.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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