Warning, the wages of lust
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दासीचा जो संग करी । त्याचे पूर्वज नकान द्वारीं॥1॥
ऐसे सांगों जातां जना । नये कोणाचिया मना ॥ध्रु.॥
बरें विचारूनी पाहें । तुज अंतीं कोण आहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे रांडलेंका । अंतीं जासिल यमलोका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The one who consorts with a maid-servant sends his ancestors to the gates of hell. When one tries to tell people this, it does not sit well with anyone. Think carefully about who will stand by you in the end. Says Tuka, you slave of lust, in the end you will go to Yama's realm.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The man who beds a servant-girl sends his ancestors to the gates of hell. When you go and tell people this, it pleases no one. Think carefully: who will stand by you at the end? Tuka says: you slave of lust, in the end you will go to Yama's realm.
What it means
Tukaram names a sin the world does not want named, and refuses to soften it. He says the man who uses a powerless servant-girl for his lust drags down even those who came before him, and warns that this plain truth makes everyone uncomfortable. He turns the listener to the only question that matters: when the body falls, who will actually be with you? The pleasure passes; the account remains, and he says it leads straight to the realm of death. The sting is aimed at the pattern of using the weak for appetite, not at one person to be despised.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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