Moral counsel, the danger of desire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
स्त्रियांचा तो संग नको नारायणा । काष्ठा या पाषाणामृत्तिकेच्या ॥१॥
नाठवे हा देव न घडे भजन । लांचावलें मन आवरे ना ॥ध्रु.॥
दृष्टिमुखें मरण इंद्रियाच्या द्वारें । लावण्य तें खरें दुःखमूळ ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जरी अग्नि जाला साधु । परी पावे बाधूं संघष्टणें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Narayana, shun the company of women, who are wood, stone, and clay. In their presence one forgets God, devotion becomes impossible, and the greedy mind cannot be restrained. Through the gateways of the senses comes death by way of sight and speech; beauty is truly the root of suffering. Says Tuka, even if one has become a saint as pure as fire, mere contact can still cause harm.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Narayana, I do not want the company of women, who are made of wood, stone, and clay. In their presence God is forgotten and worship cannot be done; the greedy mind will not be held back. Through the eyes and through the senses comes death; beauty is truly the root of sorrow. Tuka says: even one who has become a saint as pure as fire can still be burned by mere contact.
What it means
Tukaram is asking God to keep him from a craving he does not trust himself around, and the heat is on his own mind, not on women as persons. The point is the grip of desire on the senses: when the greedy mind is roused it forgets God and cannot be reined in, so the eyes and ears become doors through which a kind of death enters. By calling the body wood, stone, and clay he is trying to break the spell of beauty he names as the root of sorrow. The closing image is the sharpest and the most humble: even fire-pure holiness can be scorched by contact, so he asks to be kept from the occasion rather than trusting his own strength.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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