Moral vow, the firm boundary
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागें नेणपणें घडलें तें क्षमा । आतां देतों सीमा करूनियां ॥१॥
परनारीचें जया घडलें गमन । दावीतो वदन जननीरत ॥ध्रु.॥
उपदेशा वरी मन नाहीं हातीं । तो आम्हां पुढती पाहूं नये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे साक्षी असों द्यावें मन । घातली ते आण पाळावया ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What was done in the past through ignorance, let it be forgiven. From now on, I set a firm boundary. Whoever has committed adultery with another's wife, I show his face for what it is: defiled by incest. One whose mind remains out of control even after receiving instruction should never be allowed before us again. Says Tuka, let the conscience be witness; the vow that has been taken must be kept.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What I did in the past out of not knowing, let that be forgiven. From now I draw a firm line. The man who has gone to another man's wife shows the face of one who lies with his own mother. The man whose mind stays out of his hands even after he is taught, let him never come before us again. Tuka says: let the conscience stand as witness; the vow that is taken must be kept.
What it means
Tukaram forgives the past but slams a door on the future, and he names the line in the harshest terms he can find. Adultery with another's wife, he says, has the face of incest with one's own mother; he refuses to let it look small. He sets a second line for the person who keeps offending even after being instructed: such a one is no longer welcome among them. The point is not to crush a sinner but to make the boundary unmistakable and self-binding, so he calls his own conscience as witness that the vow he has just sworn will be kept.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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