Saints, keep distance from the false
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतसंगतीं न करावा वास । एखादे गुणदोष अंगा येती ॥1॥
मग तया दोषा नाहीं परिहार । होय अपहार सुकृताचा॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नमस्कारावे दुरून । अंतरीं धरून राहें रूप ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One should not dwell in the company of non-saints, for some fault or blemish may attach itself to you. Then there is no remedy for that fault, and your accumulated merit is stolen away. Says Tuka, bow to them from a distance, and hold the Lord's form within your chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not live in the company of those who are not saints. Some fault, some blemish, will rub off onto you. Then there is no cure for that fault, and the good you had stored up is robbed from you. Tuka says: bow to such people from a distance. Keep the Lord's form held inside your heart.
What it means
Tukaram warns that company is contagious: stay close to those who lack the saint's spirit and their faults will attach to you, and the merit you had gathered will quietly drain away. He does not call for contempt. The remedy is to bow to them, to honor them, but from a distance. Meanwhile the safe dwelling place is inward: hold the Lord's form in your heart, and let that be the company you actually keep.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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