Moral counsel, faith carries the burden
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
इतुलें करीं भलत्या परी । परद्रव्य परनारी । सांडुनि अभिलाष अंतरीं । वर्तें वेव्हारीं सुखरूप ॥1॥
न करीं दंभाचा सायास । शांती राहें बहुवस । जिव्हे सेवीं सुगंधरस । न करीं आळस रामनामीं ॥2॥
करिसी देवाविण आस । अवघी होईल निरास । तृष्णा वाढविसी बहुवस । कधीं सुखास न पवसी ॥4॥
धरूनि विश्वास करीं धीर । करितां देव हा चि निर्धार । तयाचा वाहे योगक्षेमभार । नाहीं अंतर तुका ह्मणे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do this much, by whatever means: abandon in your heart the craving for another's wealth and another's spouse. Live happily in your worldly dealings. Do not labor at pretense. Dwell in deep peace. Let the tongue relish the sweet nectar of the Name. Do not be lazy in chanting the Name of Rama. If you place your hope in anything other than God, all of it will come to nothing. If you keep feeding your cravings endlessly, you will never find happiness. Hold firm faith and be patient. This is the one certainty: God bears the burden of sustaining those who do so. Says Tuka, there is no distance between God and such a one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do this much, however you can: drop from your heart the craving for another's wealth and another's spouse. Live happily in your worldly dealings. Do not toil at pretense. Stay deep in peace. Let your tongue taste the sweet nectar of the Name. Do not be lazy in the Name of Rama. If you put your hope in anything but God, all of it will come to nothing. If you keep feeding your cravings, you will never reach happiness. Hold firm faith and be patient. This is the one certainty: God carries the burden of caring for the one who does this. Tuka says: there is no distance between God and such a one.
What it means
Tukaram strips the moral life down to a few things a person can actually do. Let go of the appetite for what belongs to another, drop the labor of pretending to be holy, and keep the Name on your tongue without slacking. Behind the practical advice is one wager: hope placed anywhere but God collapses, and craving fed endlessly never arrives at rest. The reward he names is not a transaction but a relationship; to the one who holds faith and waits, God himself shoulders the weight of provision, and the gap between the devotee and God closes to nothing.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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