Moral ideal, truth equals renunciation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सत्य त्यागा चि समान । नलगे वेचावें वचन ॥1॥
नारायणा ऐसे दास । येरयेरांची च आस ॥ध्रु.॥
मळ नाहीं चित्ता । तेथें देवाची च सत्ता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाण । तें च भल्याचें वचन॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Truth is the equal of renunciation itself; no further expenditure of words is needed. Such are the servants of Narayana: they seek only one another. Where no impurity taints the mind, there God's authority alone prevails. Says Tuka, know this: such is the word of the good.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Truth is equal to renunciation itself. No more words need be spent on it. Such are the servants of Narayana: they long only for one another. Where no impurity stains the mind, there God's authority alone rules. Tuka says: know this. That is the word of the good.
What it means
Tukaram sets truthfulness on the same level as full renunciation and says the matter needs no further argument. He then describes God's true servants by a single mark: their only desire is for each other's company, the fellowship of the devoted. The claim he lands is that where the mind carries no impurity, God alone holds sway there, with no rival power. He seals it as the settled teaching of the holy, that truth and a clean mind are themselves the place where God reigns, and that this, not elaborate words, is the word of the good.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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