Exhortation, keep the right company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरिकथेवांचून इिच्छती स्वहित । हरिजन चित्त न घला तेथें ॥1॥
जाईल भंगोन आपुला विश्वास । होईल या नास कारणांचा ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्याचिया बैसावे भोजनपंगती । त्याचिया संगती तैसे खावें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काय जालेसि जाणते । देवा ही परते थोर तुह्मी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who seek their own welfare without Hari's stories should not be given the company of Hari's devotees. Their own faith will break, and the means they rely upon will be destroyed. One should eat only in the company of those at whose table one can sit without shame. Says Tuka, have you become so wise that you think yourselves greater even than God?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who want their own good without Hari's stories should not be given the company of Hari's devotees. Their own faith will break, and the things they depend on will be ruined. Eat only in the company of those at whose table you can sit without shame. Tuka says: have you grown so wise that you think yourselves greater even than God?
What it means
Tukaram warns about the company one keeps and where the heart is really aimed. Those who chase their own welfare while skipping the stories of Hari should not be set among Hari's devotees, because the mismatch breaks their faith and ruins the very supports they leaned on. He gives a homely rule: eat only where you can sit at the table without shame, that is, share life only with company that does not corrupt you. The closing question is aimed at the proud, and at the proud part of oneself: have you become so clever that you imagine you stand above God himself?
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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