Moral ideal, grace and effort
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
योगाचें तें भाग्य क्षमा । आधीं दमा इंद्रियें ॥१॥
अवघीं भाग्यें येती घरा । देव सोयरा जालिया ॥ध्रु.॥
मिरासीचें म्हूण सेत । नाहीं देत पीक उगें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे उचित जाणां । उगीं सिणा काशाला ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The fortune of yoga is forbearance; first subdue the senses. When God becomes your kinsman, all blessings come to your door of their own accord. Just because a field is inherited does not mean the harvest springs up effortlessly. Says Tuka, know what is fitting and do not exhaust yourself for nothing.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The real fortune of yoga is forbearance; but first you must master the senses. Once God has become your kinsman, every blessing comes to your door on its own. Yet an inherited field does not yield a harvest just because you own it; you still have to work it. Tuka says: understand what is fitting to do, and do not wear yourself out for nothing.
What it means
Tukaram balances grace and effort. The crown of yoga, he says, is patient forbearance, and it rests on first reining in the senses; and when God has become your own kin, blessings simply arrive. But he guards against the laziness that grace can excuse. Owning an ancestral field does not make the crop grow by itself; the ground must still be tilled. Devotion is no excuse for idleness. Know what is genuinely yours to do, do that, and do not exhaust yourself in pointless striving over the rest. Effort and surrender each have their place.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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