Moral ideal, the strength of humility
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
राहे उभा वादावादीं । तरी फंदीं सांपडे ॥1॥
लव्हाळ्यासी कोठें बळ । करिल जळ आपुलें ॥ध्रु.॥
कठिणासी बळजोडा । नम्र पीडा देखेना ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सर्वरसीं । मिळे त्यासी गोत तें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who stands arguing will get caught in entanglements. A small stream cannot withstand a flood and will be washed away. Hardness meets its match in equal force, but the humble one sees no harm at all. Says Tuka, the one who blends with all is kin to everyone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whoever stands and argues gets caught in tangles. A small stream has no force against a flood; it is washed away. Hardness meets its match in equal force, but the humble one comes to no harm. Tuka says: the one who blends with everything is kin to all.
What it means
Tukaram sets the way of arguing against the way of yielding. The one who stands his ground in dispute only gets snared, like a thin stream swept off by a flood it cannot resist. Hardness invites a matching hardness, force against force, while the humble person stays untouched by the collision. The closing line turns this into a quiet ideal: the one who blends with all, who does not set himself against others, becomes everyone's kin. Examine where you brace and argue, and see how the stiffness itself is what gets broken.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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