Moral counsel, honor and refuge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दिली मान तरी नेघावी शत्रूची । शरण आलें त्यासी जतन जीवें ॥1॥
समर्थासी असे विचाराची आण । भलीं पापपुण्य विचारावें ॥ध्रु.॥
काकुळतीसाटीं सत्याचा विसर । पडिलें अंतर न पाहिजे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे यश कीतिन आणि मान । करितां जतन देव जोडे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even if the enemy offers honors, do not accept them. One who comes seeking refuge must be protected with one's very life. The powerful must abide by the law of discernment; the good must weigh merit and sin carefully. For the sake of someone's pleading, truth must never be forgotten; no gap should be allowed to appear. Says Tuka, by guarding fame, honor, and glory, one wins God Himself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even if the enemy offers you honors, do not take them. The one who comes to you for refuge, protect him with your own life. The strong are bound by the rule of discernment. The good must weigh sin and merit with care. Do not forget the truth because someone pleads with you. Do not let any gap open up. Tuka says: guard your fame, your good name, and your honor, and in guarding them you find God Himself.
What it means
Tukaram lays out a code for the powerful and the good. Honor handed to you by an enemy is poisoned; refuse it. A person who throws himself on your protection has the first claim on you, even before your own life. He warns against the soft trap of pity: when someone pleads hard enough, you are tempted to bend the truth, and that bent place is the gap through which everything fails. The reward is not abstract: holding to fame, good name, and honor without compromise is itself the road on which God is found.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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