Moral ideal, enmity-free toward all
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
निर्वैर व्हावें सर्वभूतांसवें । साधन बरवें हें चि एक॥1॥
तरी च अंगीकार करिल नारायण । बडबड तो सीण येणेंविण ॥ध्रु.॥
सोइरें पिशुन समान चि घटे । चित्त पर ओढे उपकारी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे चित्त जालिया निर्मळ । तरि च सकळ केलें होय ॥3॥
रििद्ध सििद्ध येती घरा । त्याचा करिती पसारा ॥ध्रु.॥
मानदंभांसाटीं। पडे देवासवें तुटी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मेवा । कैचा वेठीच्या नदवां॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Be free of enmity toward all beings. This alone is the best of spiritual practices. Only then will Narayana accept you. Without this, all talk is mere weariness. Let friends and foes be treated equally. Let the mind be drawn only to that which benefits others. Says Tuka, only when the mind is truly purified does everything one has done bear fruit.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Be without enmity toward every living being. This alone is the good practice, the one that matters. Only then will Narayana take you as His own; without it, all the chatter is just weariness. Let friend and slanderer count the same to you; let the mind lean only toward helping others. Tuka says: only when the mind has become clean does everything you have done bear fruit. Then powers and attainments come to your door and make their show. But for the sake of honor and display, the bond with God is broken. Tuka says: how can there be any sweetness in fruit picked by force.
What it means
Tukaram names the one practice he will rank above all others: freedom from enmity toward every being. Without it, he says, the rest is noise that only tires you, and God will not own you; with it, Narayana accepts you. The test is concrete, treat the one who praises you and the one who slanders you alike, and bend the mind toward others' good. Only such a cleaned mind makes all your past effort finally fruitful. He then warns of the trap that follows success: when powers and attainments arrive, using them for honor and display snaps the bond with God. The closing image lands it, fruit seized by force has no sweetness; what is taken for show is no longer a gift from God.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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