Moral ideal, truth stands the test
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सत्या माप वाढे । गबाळाची चाली खोडे ॥1॥
उतरे तें कळें कसी । विखरोणें सर्वदेशीं ॥ध्रु.॥
घरामध्ये राजा । नव्हे हो वा पाटपूजा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे साचें । रूप तें दर्पणाचें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The measure of truth keeps growing, while the counterfeit walks crookedly. What survives the test is known on every shore and throughout every land. A king within his own house needs no ceremony to prove his throne. Says Tuka, the mirror gives back the true face.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The measure of truth keeps growing; the counterfeit walks crooked. What comes through the test is known on every shore, in every land. A king inside his own house needs no ceremony to prove his throne. Tuka says: the mirror gives back the true face.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts the trajectories of the true and the false. Truth, weighed out, only increases and stands straight, while the fake moves crookedly and trips on its own gait. What survives testing needs no local endorsement; it is recognized everywhere. His image of the king at home makes the point: real authority does not stage ceremonies to prove itself, it simply is. The closing line seals it: a mirror returns whatever is actually there, so a person's true nature shows itself without disguise, and only the genuine endures examination.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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