Saints, the ruin of bad company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ढेंकणाचे संगें हिरा जो भंगला । कुसंगें नाडला तैसा साधु ॥1॥
ओढाळाच्या संगें साित्वक नासलीं । क्षण एक नाडलीं समागमें ॥ध्रु.॥
डांकाचे संगती सोनें हीन जालें । मोल तें तुटलें लक्ष कोडी ॥2॥
विषानें पक्वान्नें गोड कडू जालीं । कुसंगानें केली तैसी परी ॥3॥
भावें तुका ह्मणे सत्संग हा बरा । कुसंग हा फेरा चौयाशीचा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
As a diamond shatters in the company of a hammer, so a saint is ruined by bad company. Good creatures are corrupted by the company of the unruly, undone in a single moment of association. Gold becomes base in the company of alloy, losing its worth of lakhs and crores. As poison makes sweet dishes taste bitter, so does evil company work its ways. Says Tuka, with devotion I declare: good company is blessed, while evil company leads to the cycle of eighty-four hundred thousand births.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A diamond shatters when the hammer falls on it; in the same way bad company ruins a saint. Good and pure creatures are spoiled by keeping company with the unruly, undone in a single moment of nearness. Gold becomes base when alloy is mixed in; its worth of lakhs and crores is broken. As poison turns sweet dishes bitter, so bad company works on a person. Tuka says, with all my heart: good company is a blessing; bad company is the wheel of eighty-four lakh births.
What it means
Tukaram weighs the company we keep and shows how heavily it tells. He piles up images of ruin by association: the diamond broken by the hammer, the good soul spoiled in a moment beside the unruly, pure gold debased by alloy, sweet food poisoned bitter. The stakes are not small manners but the soul's whole worth, which bad company can strip in an instant. He sets the two paths side by side and names them: satsang, the company of the good, is a blessing, while bad company keeps a person turning on the wheel of eighty-four lakh rebirths. The choice of companions, he says, decides which way the life goes.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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