Moral ideal, the fruit of a worthy life
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जोडोनियां धन उत्तम वेव्हारें । उदास विचारें वेच करी ॥1॥
उत्तम चि गती तो एक पावेल । उत्तम भोगील जीव खाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
परउपकारी नेणें परनिंदा । परस्त्रिया सदा बहिणी माया ॥2॥
भूतदया गाईपशूचें पालन । तान्हेल्या जीवन वनामाजी॥3॥
शांतिरूपें नव्हे कोणाचा वाईट । वाढवी महत्व वडिलांचें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे हें चि आश्रमाचें फळ । परमपद बळ वैराग्याचें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who earns wealth by honest dealing and spends it with a spirit of detachment will surely attain the highest state and enjoy the noblest of births. One who serves others selflessly, never slanders, and regards all women other than one's wife as mothers and sisters; one who shows compassion to all creatures, tends to cows, and offers water to the thirsty in the wilderness; one who remains peaceful, never wishes ill upon anyone, and honors elders: Says Tuka, this is the fruit of a worthy life. The supreme goal and the strength of dispassion belong to such a one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One who earns wealth by honest dealing and spends it with a detached heart will reach the highest state and be born into the noblest of lives. One who helps others and knows no slander; who treats every woman but his wife as a mother or sister; who is kind to all creatures, tends the cows and cattle, and gives water to the thirsty in the wilderness; who stays peaceful, wishes ill on no one, and honors his elders. Tuka says: this is the fruit of a true life; the supreme goal and the strength of dispassion belong to such a one.
What it means
Tukaram draws the portrait of a genuinely good life and tells us what it is worth. The marks are concrete: money earned honestly and held loosely, service without slander, purity in seeing other women as kin, mercy toward animals, water for the thirsty traveler, a peaceful temper, no ill will, respect for elders. None of these is showy; all of them are daily conduct. He calls this the real fruit of human life, and says the highest spiritual goal and the strength of true dispassion grow out of exactly such ordinary virtue. The poem locates the path to God not in display but in steady, honest, compassionate living.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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