Moral counsel, the true friend
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हित सांगे तेणें दिलें जीवदान । घातकी तो जाण मनामागें ॥1॥
बळें हे वारावे अधर्म करितां । अंधळें चालतां आडरानें ॥ध्रु.॥
द्रव्य देऊनियां धाडावें तीर्थासी । नेदावें चोरासी चंद्रबळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसें आहे हें पुराणीं । नाहीं माझी वाणी पदरींची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who gives you sound counsel gives you life itself; one who follows the whims of your mind is truly your slayer. One should forcibly restrain those headed toward unrighteousness, as one would stop a blind person walking into a wilderness. Give them money and send them on pilgrimage; do not lend strength to thieves. Says Tuka, this is what the Puranas declare; these are not words from my own pocket.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one who tells you what is good for you gives you your very life. The one who follows your mind's whims is your killer; know it. When someone is heading into wrong, restrain them by force, as you would stop a blind man walking into the wilderness. Give them money and send them on pilgrimage; do not lend your strength to a thief. Tuka says: this is what the Puranas declare. These words are not my own; they are not from my pocket.
What it means
Tukaram redraws the line between a friend and a flatterer. The one who tells you the hard, good thing is saving your life; the one who simply agrees with your impulses is leading you to ruin. Love, he says, is sometimes restraint: you stop a person walking into harm the way you would grab a blind man before he steps into a wasteland. Spend on what helps them and refuse to fund what destroys them. He closes by disclaiming originality, anchoring the teaching in scripture rather than his own opinion, so the demand lands as duty, not preference.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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