Moral counsel, the friend who ruins you
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पतनासि जे नेती । तिचा खोटा स्नेह प्रीती ॥१॥
विधीपुरतें कारण । बहु वारावें वचन ॥ध्रु.॥
सर्वस्वासि नाडी । ऐसी लाघवाची बेडी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे दुरी । राखतां हे तों ची बरी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The affection of one who leads you to ruin is false love. Keep such a relationship to the bare minimum and restrain your speech. Such a bond is a deceptive shackle that will cheat you of everything. Says Tuka, this one is fine only when kept at a distance.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one who leads you to your fall: their fondness is false love, their affection a lie. Speak to them only as far as duty asks; cut the rest of your words short. Such a bond is a clever shackle that cheats you of everything you have. Tuka says: keep this one at a distance; that alone is good.
What it means
Tukaram is naming a particular kind of relationship and telling you what to do with it. The person who draws you toward your own ruin wears the face of affection, but he calls it a counterfeit: false love, a lie. So he sets a limit. Speak to such a person only as much as obligation requires and no further, because the bond looks like friendship while it works like a shackle, quietly stripping you of all you have. The only safe handling is distance, and he says distance here is not coldness but good sense.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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