Moral counsel, keep clean company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आहाच तो मोड वाळलियामधीं । अधीराची बुिद्ध तेणें न्यायें ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि संग न करीं दुसरें । चित्त मळीन द्वारें दोड पडे ॥ध्रु.॥
विषासाटीं सर्पां भयाभीत लोक । हें तों सकळीक जाणतसां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काचें राहे कुळांकुड । अवगुण तो नाड ज्याचा तया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A fresh shoot among the withered is conspicuous; so too is the restless mind among the steadfast. Therefore do not keep the company of the impure; the mind grows soiled when it passes through tainted doors. People fear the serpent because of its venom; everyone knows this well. Says Tuka, a flaw in character clings like a stain; it ruins whoever harbors it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A fresh green shoot stands out among the withered; the restless mind shows the same way among the steady. So do not keep company with the wrong sort; the mind is soiled when it passes through tainted doors. People dread the serpent for its venom; everyone knows this well. Tuka says: a fault clings like a flaw in glass; the bad quality ruins the one who holds it.
What it means
Tukaram warns how easily the mind is colored by the company it keeps. A single green sprout among dry stalks is conspicuous, and so is an unsteady mind set among the steadfast; you become visible by your difference. His counsel is to avoid corrupting company, because the mind takes a stain simply by passing through tainted doorways. He likens a moral flaw to venom and to a crack in glass: people rightly fear the snake's poison, and a defect of character clings just as surely. The whole pointing is at self-examination, since the fault ruins no one but the one who carries it.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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