Truth lets no fraud slip through
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हो आतां जीवीं कपटवसती । मग काकुळती कोणा यावें ॥1॥
सत्याचिये मापें गांठीं नये नाड । आदि अंत गोड नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
चोखटिया नाहीं विटाळाचा आघात । साच ते साचांत सांचा पडे ॥2॥
विचारिली वाट उसंत सीतळ । बुद्धीपुढें बळ तृणतुल्य ॥3॥
आहाराच्या घासें पचोनियां जिरे । वासना ही उरे उर्वरीत ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे ताळा घालावा वचनीं । तूं माझी जननी पांडुरंगे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let no more deceit dwell in the chitta. Then whom would one need to beg? When the measure of truth is applied, no fraud can slip through. Narayana is sweet from beginning to end. The truly clean one is untouched by pollution; the genuine naturally falls into the genuine mold. The path of reflection is cool and restful. Before wisdom, brute strength is no more than a blade of grass. Even the food one eats is digested and absorbed, but residual desire still lingers. Says Tuka, let me put the lock of silence on my lips. You are my Mother, O Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let no more deceit live in my heart now; then I will not have to beg anyone for help. When the measure of truth is used, no fraud passes through the knot. Narayana is sweet from beginning to end. The clean one takes no wound from pollution; the genuine settles into the genuine mould. The path I have thought through is cool and restful. Before clear understanding, brute strength is light as a blade of grass. The food I eat is digested and passes, but desire still stays behind. Tuka says: let me lock my lips in silence. You are my mother, Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram makes inner honesty the whole of his practice. Once deceit no longer lives in the heart, he owes nothing and need plead with no one; truth is a measure fine enough that no falsehood can slip through it, and the genuine soul slides naturally into the mould of the genuine. He notices that food is eaten and digested away, but craving outlasts the body, so the real work is on desire, not on the belly. The path of reflection he has chosen is cool and restful, and before clear understanding sheer force counts for nothing. He ends by asking for the lock of silence and calling Panduranga his mother, leaning on God the way a child leans, not as a strategy but as the last truth left.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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