Moral ideal, conduct proven by experience
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
परद्रव्य परकांता । नातळे जयाचिया चित्ता । आणि कर्मी तो तत्वता । बांधला न वजाय ॥1॥
ऐसा अनुभव रोकडा । विश्वासीतो जीवा जोडा । एकांत त्या पुढां । अवघा करी उकल ॥ध्रु.॥
सकट आंबलें तें अन्न । शोधीं तें चि मद्यपान । विषमानें भिन्न । केलें शुद्धाशुद्ध ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नित । बरवें अनुभवें उचित । तरी काय हित । मोलें घ्यावें लागतें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He whose mind does not touch another's wealth or another's wife is not bound by action, no matter what he does. This is direct, verifiable experience; one should trust it as the truest companion of the jiva. Solitude alone can unravel everything before such a person. Fermented food is the same as wine when examined closely; impurity is distinguished from purity by intent alone. Says Tuka, what is good is confirmed by experience as fitting and right; if so, does one need to purchase one's own welfare?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one whose mind does not touch another's wealth or another's wife is not bound by action, whatever he does. This is direct, plain experience. Trust it as the truest companion of the soul. Solitude alone will unravel everything before such a person. Look closely, and fermented food is the same as wine. Pure and impure are told apart by intent. Tuka says: what is good is confirmed by experience as fitting and right. If so, must you buy your own welfare for a price?
What it means
Tukaram sets out a moral test that is inward, not ceremonial: the man whose mind never reaches for another's money or another's wife stays free even in the thick of action. He calls this verifiable experience, something the soul can lean on rather than a borrowed rule, and he says solitude will then open everything to such a person. His examples sharpen the point, that intent is what divides pure from impure, the way fermentation can turn food into something like wine. The closing question presses it home: if good conduct is already confirmed from within by experience, your own welfare costs nothing to acquire, so why act as though it must be purchased?
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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