Exhortation, the worth of holy company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कथे बैसोनि सादरें । सुखचर्चा परस्परें । नवल काय तो उद्धरे । आणीक तरे सुगंधें ॥1॥
पुण्य घेई रे फुकाचें । पाप दुष्टवासनेचें । पेरिल्या बीजाचें । फळ घेई शेवटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
कथा विरस पाडी आळसें । छळणा करूनि मोडी रस । बुडवी आपणासरिसें। विटाळसें नावेसी ॥2॥
सज्जन चंदनाचिये परी । दुर्जन देशत्यागें दुरी । राहो ह्मणे हरि । विनंती करी तुका हे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sitting attentively at a discourse, sharing the joy together, it is no surprise that one is uplifted; even others are carried across by its fragrance. Take this free merit and abandon the sin of evil desire, for you will reap at last the fruit of whatever seed you sow. Laziness spoils the discourse, and malice kills its sweetness; like a polluting passenger in a boat, one drags others down with oneself. Says Tuka, let the good remain like sandalwood; let the wicked be sent far away. This is my humble prayer to Hari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To sit attentively at the discourse, sharing the joy with one another, it is no wonder a person is lifted up; others too are carried across by its fragrance. Take this merit, it is free. Drop the sin of evil longing. Whatever seed you sow, in the end you reap its fruit. Laziness spoils the discourse, and malice kills its sweetness; like a defiling passenger in a boat, such a one drags others down along with himself. Tuka says: let the good stay near, like sandalwood; let the wicked be sent far away. This is my humble prayer to Hari.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the holy assembly and naming what protects it. Sitting in attentive, shared joy lifts the listener and even spreads to others like a fragrance, and the merit of it costs nothing; the sowing-and-reaping line warns that the seed you choose, devotion or evil desire, decides the harvest. Then he names the two things that ruin a satsang: idleness, which drains its life, and malice, which kills its sweetness, comparing the spoiler to a polluting passenger who sinks the whole boat. His prayer is not contempt for any person but a request that good company be kept close like sandalwood and corrupting company kept at a distance.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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