Moral ideal, compassion and the protection of dharma
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दया तिचें नांव भूतांचें पाळण । अणीक निर्दळण कंटकांचें ॥१॥
पाप त्याचें नांव न विचारितां नीत । भलतें चि उन्मत्त करी सदा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे धर्म रक्षावया साठीं । देवास ही आटी जन्म घेणें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Compassion means the nurturing of all beings and the destruction of those who cause harm. Sin is acting without considering what is right, behaving recklessly at all times. Says Tuka, to protect righteousness, even God must take the trouble of being born.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Compassion, that is its name: the nurturing of all beings, and along with it the cutting down of those who do harm. Sin, that is its name: acting without ever asking what is right, behaving wildly all the time. Tuka says: to guard dharma, even God takes the trouble to be born.
What it means
Tukaram defines compassion as having two edges, not one. True mercy nurtures every living being, and the same mercy uproots those who prey on the helpless; sparing the harmful would not be kindness but neglect of the vulnerable. He sets sin opposite this: living recklessly, never pausing to ask what is right. To make the stakes clear he points to God's own descents, saying that even the Lord takes on birth for the sake of guarding dharma. The pattern he calls out is mistaking softness toward cruelty for compassion.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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