Integrity, inner and outer as one
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बैसो आतां मनीं । आले तैसें चि वदनीं ॥1॥
मग अवघें चि गोड । पुरे सकळ हि कोड ॥ध्रु.॥
बाहेरील भाव । तैसा अंतरीं हि वाव ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मणि । शोभा दाखवी कोंदणीं॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let what is within settle in the mind; let it come out through the lips just as it is. Then everything becomes sweet, and all longing is fulfilled. Let the outer feeling be the same as the inner space. Says Tuka, a gem reveals its beauty when set in the right mounting.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let it settle in the mind now, and let it come to the lips exactly as it is. Then everything turns sweet, and every longing is satisfied. Let the feeling you show outside be the same as the space within. Tuka says: a gem shows its beauty when it is set in the right mounting.
What it means
Tukaram is teaching that words are sweet only when they match the heart behind them. Let what truly rests in the mind be what comes out of the mouth, with nothing added or staged. When the inner and the outer agree, speech itself becomes sweet and the heart's longing is met. The closing image makes the standard concrete: a gem needs its proper setting to shine, and a feeling needs honest expression to show its real worth. The opposite, saying one thing while feeling another, is the flaw the poem warns against.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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