Discernment, against rash haste and sloth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उभा ऐल थडी । तेणें घालूं नये उडी ॥1॥
पुढें गेल्याचे उपाय । करावे ते केले काय ।ध्रु.॥
दिसतें आहारीं । नये जाऊं ऐशावरी ॥2॥
अळसाची धाडी ॥ तुका ह्मणे बहु नाडी॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Just because one stands on this bank does not mean one should leap into the water. What good does it do to attempt remedies after the moment has passed? Do not be drawn in by everything that appears inviting. Says Tuka, the assault of laziness has led many astray.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Standing on this near bank, do not leap into the water for that. What use are the remedies meant for later, if you do them now, out of place? Do not be pulled along by everything that looks good to you. Tuka says: the raid of laziness has ruined many.
What it means
Tukaram warns against two opposite failures on the spiritual road. One is rash haste: jumping into the river simply because you are standing at the edge, acting before the time is right, applying later remedies too soon. The other is being lured by whatever merely looks inviting, letting appearances drag you wherever they please. Against both he sets the final blow: laziness comes like a raiding party and has destroyed many who never even started. Right timing, not impulse and not drift, is the path.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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