The moral ideal, what is tested by fire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हित जाणे चित्त । कळों येतसे उचित ॥1॥
वरदळ तें नुतरे कसीं । आगीमध्यें तें रसीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे करुनी खरें । ठेवितां तें पुढें बरें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The chitta knows what is beneficial, and what is proper becomes apparent. Surface material does not survive the test. In the fire, the true essence is revealed. Says Tuka, what is made genuine stands well when placed before the future.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The heart knows what is good for it, and what is right becomes clear. Surface stuff does not survive the test. In the fire, the true essence is what shows. Tuka says: what you make genuine stands you in good stead later on.
What it means
Tukaram says the inner heart already knows what is truly good, and the right course becomes plain when you listen to it. Anything that is only surface, only show, will not last when it is tried. He uses the image of fire: heat burns off whatever is fake and leaves only the real essence behind. So make your life and devotion genuine now; what is real is what will hold up and serve you in time to come. The poem sets inner truth against outward appearance and tells you to invest in the first.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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