Moral counsel, reading the heart and the hour
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जीवींचें जाणावें या नांवें आवडी । हेंकड तें ओढी अमंगळ ॥1॥
चित्ताच्या संकोचें कांहीं च न घडे । अतिशयें वेडे चार तो चि ॥ध्रु.॥
काळाविण कांहीं नाहीं रुचों येत । करूनि संकेत ठेवियेला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कळे वचनें चांचणी । काय बोलवूनि वेळोवेळां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Loving attentiveness means knowing what is in another's heart. Stubbornness and willfulness are inauspicious. When the mind is constricted, nothing of value can be accomplished. The greatest madness is simply the right behavior at the right time. Nothing is palatable before its season; the proper moment has been arranged by design. Says Tuka, one can test sincerity through words, by drawing a person out again and again in conversation.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To love someone is to know what is in their heart. Stubbornness and willfulness are foul things. When the mind is shut tight, nothing good can be done. The real madness is just doing the right thing at the right time. Nothing is to your taste before its season; the proper moment is set by design. Tuka says: sincerity is known through words, by drawing a person out again and again in talk.
What it means
Tukaram is giving practical counsel on how to live rightly with others. Real affection is not indulgence but attentiveness: you take the trouble to know what another truly carries inside, while obstinacy and a closed mind ruin everything. He turns the word madness on its head, saying the only worthwhile intensity is fitting your action to its right moment, since things have their appointed season. The last verse points to discernment: you test whether a person is sincere not by one word but by drawing them out in conversation over and over. The poem asks the listener to cultivate patience, openness, and a careful reading of both heart and timing.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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