Counsel, keep the wicked at a distance
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नेदावी सलगी न करावा संग । करी चित्ता भंग वेळोवेळा ॥1॥
सर्प शांतिरूप न ह्मणावा भला । झोंबे खवळीला तात्काळ तो ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दुरी राखावा दुर्जन । करावें वचन न घडे तें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do not allow familiarity with the wicked, and do not keep their company, for it disrupts the mind at every turn. A serpent may appear calm, but when provoked it strikes at once. Says Tuka, keep the wicked at a distance, for they are incapable of keeping their word.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not grow familiar with the wicked. Do not keep their company. Again and again it breaks the mind. A serpent may look calm; do not call it harmless. Provoke it and it strikes at once. Tuka says: keep the wicked one far off. Whatever they promise, they will not do.
What it means
Tukaram warns against letting harmful people in close. Familiarity and company with the wicked unsettle the mind over and over, so the safe course is distance. His image is a snake that lies still and looks gentle: stillness is no proof of safety, because once roused it strikes instantly. The closing line names the practical stakes: such people do not keep their word, so no agreement with them holds. The warning is aimed at the pattern of harm and our own carelessness in courting it, not at writing off any person as beyond reach.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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