Moral ideal, the shape of a devout day
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काळ सारावा चिंतनें । एकांतवासीं गंगास्नानें । देवाचें पूजन । प्रदक्षणा तुळसीच्या ॥1॥
युक्त आहार वेहार । नेम इंिद्रयांचा सार । नसावी वासर । निद्रा बहु भाषण ॥ध्रु.॥
परमार्थ महाधन । जोडी देवाचे चरण । व्हावया जतन । हे उपाय लाभाचे ॥2॥
देह समपिनजे देवा । भार कांहीं च न घ्यावा । होईल आघवा। तुका ह्मणे आनंद ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Spend your days in contemplation, bathing in the Ganga of solitude, worshipping God, circumambulating the tulsi. Eat moderately, conduct yourself with discipline, govern your senses. Avoid excess sleep and too much talk. The great wealth of spiritual life is won by earning God's feet. These are the means to gain that profit. Surrender the body to God; carry no burden at all. Says Tuka, then all will become joy.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Spend your days in contemplation, bathe in the Ganga of solitude, worship God, circle the tulsi. Eat in measure, live with discipline, hold the senses in check. Do not sleep too much or talk too much. The great wealth is won by earning God's feet. These are the means to that gain. Surrender the body to God; carry no burden at all. Tuka says: then everything becomes joy.
What it means
Tukaram lays out a plain rule of life for one who wants God. The day is filled with contemplation, solitude treated as a holy bathing-place, simple worship around the tulsi, moderate food, restraint of the senses, and the avoidance of idle sleep and chatter. He frames all of it as the practical means to one end: earning God's feet, the only real wealth. The final step is the largest: hand the whole body over to God and stop carrying any burden yourself, and then the whole of life turns to joy.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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