Moral counsel, the burning of desire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आग्रहा नांवें पाप । योगीं सारावे संकल्प ॥1॥
सहजा ऐसें भांडवल । असोनि कां सारा बोल ॥ध्रु.॥
तैं न भेटे तें काय । मना अंगींचे उपाय ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धरीं सोय । वासनेची फोडा डोय ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Insistence is the name of sin; one should fulfill one's resolves with equanimity. When naturalness itself is the capital, why waste words on anything else? What cannot be obtained through such means? The mind already holds the remedies within itself. Says Tuka, find the true path, and burst open the eyes of desire.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Insisting on your own way: that is what sin is. The yogi lets his resolves rest in calm. When ease itself is your wealth, why spend words on anything else? What is there that you cannot reach by this? The mind already holds the cure inside itself. Tuka says: find the true road, and break open the eye of craving.
What it means
Tukaram names the root of sin not as a forbidden act but as the will that insists, the grip that demands its own outcome. The remedy he sets against it is equanimity: let your resolves rest without clutching, since natural ease is itself the only capital you need. He insists you already carry the cure within, so no outer machinery is required. The closing image is sharp: do not merely soothe desire but burst its eye, put out the seeing that keeps it alive, and the true path opens.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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